> the pilot cost €72 million to date but generated nearly €80 million in total benefits to the Irish economy I don't like how these reports speak with such cer

> the pilot cost €72 million to date but generated nearly €80 million in total benefits to the Irish economy I don't like how these reports speak with such certainty. How do you measure "total benefits"? For one, it includes income of the artist. Yes, giving money to people generally increases their income, so it would be weird if any amount given would not be break even to the expense, unless that person decides to do less of some other activity, which I guess is possible but unlikely at least for these amounts. Then the study counts public facing artistic activity. Kind of hard to measure the value of that. I guess you could by saying "this person created a piece of art that people pay to see", but I doubt that's what they're getting at. Then satisfaction and well being. I would certainly be happy with more money. I personally don't think we have a lack of culture and art. If Ireland is at all like the US, they have more art majors (as a proxy for art creation). All artistic majors have grown considerably over the last few decades: > A new analysis from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators finds that bachelor’s degree conferrals in the arts have remained substantially above average for the past 30 years. The data also show recent growth in the number of arts degrees conferred to traditionally under-represented racial/ethnic groups. As of 2015, departments and programs in the fine arts and performing arts awarded 80,360 bachelor’s degrees, with another 7,087 awarded for the “humanistic” study of the arts (subfields such as art history, musicology, and film studies, which the Indicators tabulate along with the humanities). This figure is down slightly from the historic peak of 82,778 degrees awarded in 2013 (or 90,543, when humanities subjects are included), and above the annual figure recorded at any point before 2011. So the question is, what problem is this program trying to solve? Give rich kids that can afford to do art more money to support their lifestyle? https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2017/taking-note-how-about-those-undergraduate-arts-majors https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2017/taking-note-how-about...