Contemporary challenges to cultural economics

This chapter considers the policy relevance of current work in cultural economics and suggests that this is lacking and that mainstream neoclassical welfare economics might not provide a sufficient solution to this problem. This may require a ‘cultural political economy’ that is more explicitly normative and more geared towards the exploration of disastrous policy mistakes. The question of a need for a change in approach is discussed with reference to the impact of technological change, specifically digitization. An attempt is made to clarify the distinction between virtualization and digitization, which are sometimes confused in the literature. Empirical work in cultural economics is scrutinized along the lines of the ‘seven sins’ approach enumerated by Pham in an article on consumer psychology.