UN Flunks Economics Again

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Cyclotron


Have they been trying to do that?

I dunno. It was merely a guess on my part but the limits described and the stated motive behind them seem as if it might constitute a violation of principles of free and fair trade or at least it should.

[Sirotnikov]

Originally posted by VetLegion
Like hell they did . It is pretty silly to claim that art gets better because of market pressure, I think. More market oriented, maybe. But that is not that deterministic either.

Of course arts get better.
Now producers actually seek out a worthwhile project to put their money into. More professional screenwriters, actors, compositors, cameraman and editors are hired.
The standards have raised.

And I would be very surprised to see a development like this:

1991 - Israeli movies 15% ticket revenues, Holywood 85%
2003 - Israeli movies 40% ticket revenues, Holywood 60%

It is more like:
1991 - Israeli movies 5% ticket revenues, Holywood 95%
2004 - Israeli movies 17% ticket revenues, Holywood 23%.

Obviously this also has to do with the amount of Israeli films each year.

Also, are Israeli movies sponsored by the government? I think they are at least partially. Not very market of them

They are, because Israel is not a large market that can truly sustain a flourishing movie industry. It has around 2mil. potencial movie goers, tops.

However, if you compare the amount of money spent per citizen or as a percent of the national budget, between Israel or France - you'd see that Israel is much more free-market oriented.

In any case, in music there was never any government intervention at all, and the music market has got to be at least 51-49 in favour of Israeli music.

Not to mention we have never had any silly quotas on imported culture products.

Yes the government demands major TV channels to produce cultural israeli content - but that is because they are lazy and would rather pay money to purchase existing foreign content, than to produce any.

However the quota mostly demands to ensure all kinds of PBS like content, and such. Most new Israeli TV shows and dramas and what not, exist because of popular demand, rather than quota.

[Toby Rowe]

I think the French invented both Film and photography.

If you ever choose to live in Europe you will see that we make rather different films.

Hollywood produces blockbusters, Europe and Canada produce what might be called "art house" films by a Yank.

Sometimes I want a blockbuster, at other times a film that makes you think.

Hollywood does the first, and doesn't require an IQ, the rest of the nations do the others.

For a French film, see the famous "Betty Blue" and compare the opening scene to the closing scene and tell me that 'aint powerful cinema.

Toby

[Dinner]

What exactly makes selling movie different from selling cars or computers? Why is it ok to have protectionist policies against that industry & argo-business but not for everything else?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Oerdin
What exactly makes selling movie different from selling cars or computers? Why is it ok to have protectionist policies against that industry & argo-business but not for everything else?

What about textiles, shoes, steel, wooden furniture, bras, etc?

[Dinner]

They fall into the everything else catagory.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The irony is that the flow of US films into France has actually improved the overall quality of French film. Since the French have no hope of competing with the US in the realm of our specialty -- Big, Dumb, Expensive Films Written For 14-Year-Old Boys -- it has liberated them to make different films altogether. The French can pull off wonderous films like Amelie or City of Lost Children precisely because they can don't have to gear their industry to turning out Doom, Flightplan and retreads of old TV shows. The same could be said for Canada, the UK, and many other countries.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Canada can hold itself up as a trailblazer now.

Canada's signature should be pointless, since your exports to us are already covered by NAFTA (can't **** wit 'em).

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Oerdin
They fall into the everything else catagory.

Unfortunately, those goods get (or was getting) various forms of protection too.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Oerdin
What exactly makes selling movie different from selling cars or computers? Why is it ok to have protectionist policies against that industry & argo-business but not for everything else?

Duh... it isn't!

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Canada's signature should be pointless, since your exports to us are already covered by NAFTA (can't **** wit 'em).

Like that stops you.

[KrazyHorse]

Actually it does. The real problem is that it doesn't stop you

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Actually it does. The real problem is that it doesn't stop you

Talk to me when the Canadian content quota on your media is dropped.

[KrazyHorse]

Luckily we have a NAFTA exemption.

[DinoDoc]

As I said. You can now consider yourselves trailblazers in the area of protectionism.