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Frontmatter -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 The Arts in a Market Economy -- 2 The Market for the Written Word -- 3 The Wealthy City as a Center for Western Art -- 4 From Bach to the Beatles: The Developing Market for Music -- 5 Why Cultural Pessimism? -- Notes -- Index

Introduction: a new pro-business manifesto -- Are businesses more fraudulent than the rest of us? -- Are CEOs paid too much? -- Is work fun? -- How monopolistic is American big business? -- Are the big tech companies evil? -- What is Wall Street good for anyway? -- Crony capitalism: how much does big business control the American government? -- If business is so good, why is it so disliked?

"Growth is good. Through history, economic growth, in particular, has alleviated human misery, improved human happiness and opportunity, and lengthened human lives. Wealthier societies are more stable, offer better living standards, produce better medicines, and ensure greater autonomy, greater fulfillment, and more sources of fun. If we want to continue on our trends of growth, and the overwhelmingly positive outcomes for societies that come with it, every individual must become more concerned with the welfare of those around us and in the world at large and most of all our descendants in the future. "--Page preliminary page

The complacent class and its dangers -- Why Americans have stopped moving, or is your hometown really so special? -- The reemergence of segregation -- Why Americans stopped creating -- The respite of the well-ordered match: love, music, and even your dog -- Why Americans stopped rioting and instead legalized marijuana -- How a dynamic society looks and feels -- Political stagnation, the dwindling of true democracy, and Alexis de Tocqueville as prophet of our time -- The return of chaos, and why the complacent class cannot hold

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. The Arts in a Market Economy -- 2. The Market for the Written Word -- 3. The Wealthy City as a Center for Western Art -- 4. From Bach to the Beatles: The Developing Market for Music -- 5. Why Cultural Pessimism? -- Notes -- Index.