Cultural Promotion

«Liberal Cultural Promotion Between Patronage, Sponsorship and Corporatism»

Speech by Max Frenkel

Swiss political comentator

«Sponsoring of Culture in the US and Europe – Empirical Findings and Normative» Reflections

Speech by Tyler Cowen

American economist, columnist, blogger and professor at George Mason University

Thank you all for coming. My talk will have three parts; first I will start with some remarks on the American system for funding the arts, then I will offer three general lessons about arts funding and then I will talk about four particular questions, which may concern Switzerland and arts funding in Switzerland.

To start with the American system, very commonly I give talks on arts policy and arts funding in Europe and often I contrast the American system with, for instance, the French system. The French system is very centralized and there is a Ministry of Culture, which plays a strong role, but when I look at the Swiss system and compare that to the United States, more than anything else I see similarities, at least compared with the rest of Europe. As you all know, in Switzerland arts funding tends to be local at the level of canton or the city. There is not a Ministry of Culture with a central role. Switzerland, almost uniquely in Europe, has a fairly sensible law about foundations. In this regard, it is quite similar to the United States.

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Text of the Speech