Knute Berger writes that the proliferation of studies purporting to show the economic impact of the arts are inflated. “One of the most study-happy ‘industries’ is the arts. Local arts groups put out economic impact studies every couple of years. One problem in comparing them is that their focus or methodologies seem to change slightly, so it’s difficult to get apples-to-apples comparisons. But the drumbeat is very familiar. It re-enforces a pre-determined mission (the arts matter!), touts the intangibles (quality of life!), takes credit for non-arts related economic activity (what would you do without us?), and elevates the arts to the status aerospace (we’re an industry!).