3/15/2015
Orange Economy
ORANGE ECONOMY By Cuauhtemoc Villamar
http://www.theculturist.ca/globalarticles/orange.html
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3/15/2015
Orange Economy
We often talk about the tangible value of culture, but seldom have a clear idea of how to measure it. In economic terms, concepts like technology, education, and culture represent a challenge to the conservative understanding of the world. Many policy-makers, academics and the public are not ready to accept new concepts regarding performances of factors of production. Only a few decades ago, the mechanization of a services-led economy was more imaginary than based on real experience or seen as a disaster in the making for those accustomed to viewing the world only through production of material things. “The Orange Economy” (http://publications.iadb.org/handle/11319/3659?localeattribute=en), published by the Inter-American Development Bank (http://www.iadb.org/en/inter-american-development-bank,2837.html) in 2013, is an attractive, and simple starting point for being informed about the phenomenon of culture as an economic instrument. It is written by Felipe Buitrago Restrepo and Ivan Duque Márquez. The relationship between economy and culture is a fundamental fact of our time. Culture pervades all corners of our everyday life, from knowledge, entertainment, health, and travel, to even food. Culture, in a broader sense, means higher expectations for our lives, inspiration and freedom of the mind. But on the opposite side of the equation, the economic aspects of life represent, for the majority of people, few opportunities of employment, saving, consumption, and tend to be stressful and negative. That culture and economy are not mutually exclusive is a fact of our times, and we had better start thinking in the connection of both these aspects. Culture generates wealth - material and spiritual - and stimulates the opportunities for better use of our human resources.We are consumers of hundreds of cultural products everyday and many of us are producers of these intangible goods. As the publication states, digital technologies have created a huge market around the world and lowered barriers to entry. How can we empower ourselves in participating in this increasing trend? What are the rules that govern the eco-cultural system in which we are living? What are the limits? How can we be better served from the new economy? http://www.theculturist.ca/globalarticles/orange.html
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3/15/2015
Orange Economy
An important responsibility resides in the formulation of public policies that entrust the participation of the vast majority of the population in the benefits of the Orange economy. The IADB tries to formulate some guidelines for such policies, such as creating culture infrastructure atlases, fortifying institutions that can sustain the creativity (at the level of the government, the industry, and the civil society) and convincing the private sector to invest in the creative economy -increasing internet connectivity, for example. Plainly, from the viewpoint of the intergovernmental association, this text underscores the role of property rights to guarantee the development of emerging sectors.
The recent Oscar award given to Mexican film director, Alejandro Iñarritu, for Birdman - an American movie - is an unfortunate example of the contradictions that these kind of industries face in Latin America. There is huge potential for creativity, but due to lack of opportunities at home, most creators - this includes directors, actors, scriptwriters, cameramen and highly specialized technical staff - need to migrate to places like USA or Canada to have an opportunity to succeed. I find the general concept of the book to be very attractive, but it is distressing to see that monopolistic interests could take control of important cultural initiatives. Reading this document brings to my mind the necessity to be cautious with any economic formula. There are moral limitations in all economic prescriptions. If we assign a cost to all things produced by humankind, there may be an inevitable tendency to put a cost on resources as well, including land, water and air. It is one thing for there to be outside forces intervening with the work of a creator, but quite another for the concentration of resources, natural or intellectual, to be in the hands of monopoly distributors around the world.
http://www.theculturist.ca/globalarticles/orange.html
3/5
3/15/2015
Orange Economy
I invite the readers to keep in mind the other side of the question of ‘property right’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property) in a wide spectrum. An advocate for the so-called ‘property left’ once said: That free software were free is more like "free speech" than "free beer".
Cuauhtemoc Villamar (https://www.linkedin.com/pub/cuauht%C3%A9mocvillamar/84/42b/a5b?trk=pub-pbmap) is a Diplomat for the Mexican Embassy, with over 30 years experience. He has been involved with economic and development trends of China and Southeast Asia since 1989. He has worked and lived in China, Singapore, Thailand and Canada. He has also been a policy analyst and event organiser of inter-governmental and international meetings and courses. Hi is affiliated to The Siam Society, Bangkok. He has also written, edited, and published articles in the Spanish language. He is currently pursuing his PhD in History at the National University of Singapore. Tweet
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The relationship between economy and culture is a fundamental fact of our time. Culture pervades all corners of our everyday life, from knowledge, entertainment, health, and travel, to even food. Culture, in a broader sense, means higher expectations for our lives, inspiration and freedom of the mind. http://www.theculturist.ca/globalarticles/orange.html
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3/15/2015
Orange Economy
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