The arts have always mirrored economic and political reality, so it's no surprise that the global recession has strained the financial resources of established and emerging nations alike and has bitten deeply into cultural budgets.

In this collection of essays, the first book to address the economics of the arts since the downturn in funding, an international group of experts examines the current needs of the arts as well as the questions - political, financial, ethical, and aesthetic - that go hand-in-hand with the problem of money. The book grows out of a 1993 session of the Salzburg Seminar.

1. Contributors assess the contemporary economic challenge of cultural policy from the perspective of giving as well as receiving support. They raise a wealth of new ideas on funding, planning, censorship, evaluative criteria for grants, educational tourism, and the role of the community from the grassroots to global levels.