I have come in in the middle of this discussion, but if one espouses a market
model, economists tend to say that the role of government (if any) is to help
overcome imperfections in that market: and most markets do not function
perfectly. One problem may be that the primary producers (poets?) lack the
resources or opportunities to produce, another that there may be poor chains of
distribution (publishers?). Producers or distributors may also form cartels
which restrict choice and drive up price. Or a lack of market information
(critics, reviewers?) may mean that consumers (readers, institutions) cannot
make informed purchasing choices; or they may lack purchasing power i.e. money.
Many markets are in fact 'segmented' rather than forming a single whole, i.e.
poetries rather than poetry. Another role of government may be in subsidising
start-up costs, the initial investment hump, so that enterprises get going in
the first place; or in tiding firms through the inevitable down-turns in the
economic cycle; but I cannot quite imagine an economic cycle in poetry.
I'm not sure how any of this relates to our field, but if we want to go down the
market road, applying such general market theory to publishing might help us to
clarify the potential role or roles of the state in supporting poets and
poetry.
Geoff
Geoff
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