Economically, it has never been the case that a country became a leader because it was competent in the arts. The sciences are more important in people's minds

Economically, it has never been the case that a country became a leader because it was competent in the arts. The sciences are more important in people's minds because they provide for economic prosperity, an aftereffect of which is the flourishing of the arts. It's not clear why the author seems to be optimistic. Maybe because the recent economic crisis has led the prices up in the elite art market? If anything, the examples of youtube, deviantart etc. prove that (the visual) arts are becoming increasingly a cheap commodity. So, from the standpoint of "creating an impact" the visual arts (and the performance arts) in particular seem pretty doomed. How long can it be before we have screenplay-to-movie generators? On the other hand, storytelling and music seem to be having a renaissance. In any case it's bad advice to tell people to study only art or only science as both are necessary for the "advancement of the human condition".