GDP Value Of The Arts Is About 3.2 Percent Of GDP

From The Wall Street Journal, Real Time Economics, "U.S. Arts Sector Is Bigger Than Tourism Industry" by Eric Morath:

Starving artists? Not quite. America’s arts and cultural sector is a half-trillion-dollar machine that’s larger than major industries such as travel and tourism, a new official estimate found.

Source:  The Wall Street Journal

The arts contributed $504 billion to U.S. economic output in 2011, or 3.2% of gross domestic product, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The report is the first time the government calculated the sector’s size.