An article by British economist John Kay might just surprise you.

Kay’s article, “A Good Economist Knows the True Value of Arts” was published in London’s Financial Times August 11, 2010. In it, he analyzes what he sees as the fallacy of the way in which most economic studies quantify the value of sports, tourism and the arts. He states, “[…] the value of an activity is not what it costs, but the amount by which its benefit exceeds its costs….the economic value of the arts is in the commercial and cultural value of the performance, not the costs of cleaning the theatre.”

What lesson does this idea hold for the humanities? Nowadays, as teaching the humanities in K-12 schools and in colleges continues to decline to make time for more reading, math, science, engineering and technology teaching—all essential for finding and keeping jobs—making the case for the importance of the humanities seems at best quixotic if not downright wrong-headed. Kay reminds us that the humanities’ contributions to the welfare of ordinary citizens are considerable, but hard to calculate. He contends, “Activities that are good in themselves are good for the economy, and activities that are bad in themselves are bad for the economy. The only intelligible meaning of ‘benefit to the economy’ is the contribution – direct or indirect – the activity makes to the welfare of ordinary citizens.”

We at the Maryland Humanities Council applaud this thinking. Read the entire article, and let us know what  you think?

John Kay is an Oxford University and London Business School professor, author of several prestigious books on economics, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank and champion of the idea that markets are embedded in a social context.

-Lisa Keir

Peter Berkowitz, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, where he co-chairs the task force on the virtues of a free society, wrote, “Why Liberal Education Matters,” which was published in the Wall Street Journal May 15, 2010.

Berkowitz agues that, while teaching science and math is very important, there is an “urgent need to reform liberal education,” noting, “Liberal education supposes that while individual rights are shared equally by all, the responsible exercise of those rights is an achievement that depends on cultivating the mind.” He takes to task the way in which the humanities are taught in colleges—citing “confused faculty and incoherent university curricula” as the culprits.

Berkowitz poses the question, “How can one think independently about what kind of life to live without acquiring familiarity with the ideas about happiness and misery, exaltation and despair, nobility and baseness that study of literature, philosophy and religion bring to life?” To answer that question, he posits, “For the sake of science and math, for the sake of international competitiveness, and even more for the sake of defending the worth and dignity of the individual, the reinvigoration of the humanities and the restoration of liberal education as education for freedom must become a priority.”

MHC would like to know what you think about the value of a liberal education and whether/how to reinstate humanities as an integral element of a college or university education.  Please reply here or on Facebook.

You can access the full article free if you are a Wall Street Journal subscriber at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303695604575182313286840550.html?mod=rss_Today’s_Most_Popular .