John Howkins developed the concept in 2001 to describe economic systems where value is based on novel imaginative qualities rather than the traditional resources of land, labour and capital.
Governments have been slow to adjust their national statistics to capture the new forms of creative occupations, productions and transactions.
This approach was led by the British Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which designated 14 creative industries in 1998, later reduced to 12.
[11][12] The primary role of individual creativity as the defining source of the new economy was put forward by John Howkins in 2001.
In 2013 the British NESTA criticised the UK government culture-based approach saying, ‘For example, the definition doesn’t include a large (and growing) software segment of the creative industries’.
Creative economies are more commonly found in market-based economies where they can benefit from intellectual and artistic freedom, lack of censorship, access to knowledge, availability of private capital, and the freedom to set market prices and where the population is able to exercise their own choice in terms of what choose to buy or rent.
The 2014 OECD Forum declared ‘Creativity and innovation are now driving the economy, reshaping entire industries and stimulating inclusive growth’.
[17][18][19] According to Howkins, current issues in the creative economy include[20] Aesthetics, Branding, Business Models (Value Chains), Networks (Systems, Ecologies), Culture (intrinsic and instrumental values), Education and Learning, Intellectual property (proprietorial and open source), Management, Digital and Online, Policy, Pricing, Public statistics (definitions), Software, Start-ups, Tax, Urban design, and Work The creative economy is mired with exploitative labor practices.
[21] In the same year, an article summarized ongoing public arguments between a prominent gallerist and a number of her represented artists for non-payment and withholding artwork.
[23] This coverage contributes to the growing field of arts journalism that makes visible exploitative art-world labor practices in the United States.