[lbo-talk] The Creative Class in the UK?

[James Heartfield]

* The Department of Trade and Industry wants to put design at the centre of 
boosting British export - but why are British firms putting less and less 
importance on design?
* There are 123 675 Art and Design Students in Britain, one in every 16 
students in higher education - so why is it that less than a quarter of them 
will be working in design related industries when they graduate?
* Tony Blair says that, if no longer the workshop of the world, Britain can 
claim to be its drawing board - so why have design consultancies seen their 
fees halved since 2001?
* The Department of Trade and Industry celebrates the knowledge-driven 
economy - so why is average productivity falling in Britain, and work 
becoming more labour-intensive, not less?
* The National Lottery fund and the millennium commission helped to open 
museums and arts centres all over the country - but why have so many of them 
been closed down?

THE CREATIVITY GAP by James Heartfield is published as a Blueprint Broadside 
on 12 May. Copies are free with Blueprint magazine, available at branches of 
WH Smith and other newsagents. To order a copy tel 020 8606 7549 or go to 
www.blueprintmagazine.co.uk