[lbo-talk] this'n'that

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Carl:
> 
> I note with interest that the source of these rankings is the University
of
> Wisconsin-Whitewater and that, wondrous to say, Minneapolis and Madison
are
> rated #1 and #4 respectively.  But I see no real reason to be skeptical.
> LA, after all, appears on this list of 79 cites as #68, which seems
> reasonable enough.
> 
> I assume folks in last-ranked El Paso communicate mainly by pictograms.

Baltimore, "The City that Reads" under the previous administration of Kurt
Schmoke, ranked 25th, albeit it is claimed to have 40% functional illiteracy
rate.  I think what put as ahead of places like NYC or Philly is a
relatively low population and the concentration of cultural institutions
serving mainly suburbs.

This points to a certain distortion by the study, which seemingly does not
take into account the effect of the economies of scale and the niche
character of the cultural commodities market.  New York may have a low per
capita scores due to the enormous size of its population, but the sheer size
of the city can support a large number of cultural/literary institutions,
which makes it the cultural capital of the United States.  These
institutions, moreover, serve a market niche composed of a fragment of the
total NYC population - whereas most New Yorkers live blissfully oblivious of
them, if not functionally illiterate, and meet their cultural needs mainly
by watching television.

Wojtek