The Global Heritage Industry and the Recession: Bucking the Trend?

As we go to press there is no doubt that the world is plunging into an unprecedented economic recession. The magnitude and tenure of this are still unknown, but the statistics of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) speak for themselves, especially for the advanced economies of the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and US).

Prospects for global growth have deteriorated over the past month, as financial sector deleveraging has continued and producer and consumer confidence have fallen. Accordingly, world output is projected to expand by 2.2% in 2009, down by some ¾ percentage point of gross domestic product (GDP) relative to the projections in the IMF’s October World Economic Outlook (WEO). In advanced economies, output is forecast to contract on a full-year basis in 2009, the first such fall in the post-war period. In emerging and developing economies, growth is projected to slow appreciably but still reach 5% in 2009. However, these forecasts are based on current policies. Global action to support financial markets and provide further fiscal stimulus and monetary easing may help limit the decline in world growth. To what extent does this global woe impact on the heritage sphere - from commerical archaeology to museums? Not all bad news it seems.

In the UK, since the implementation of Planning Policy Guidance 16: Archaeology and Planning (PPG 16) legislation in 1990, developers - laying pipes, building new houses, roads, runways, quarrying - have had to pay to survey, excavate, and record any remains of sufficient archaeological interest they may impinge on. Naturally this has been good news for the employment of archaeologists, funding 58% of all professional archaeological posts. There are similar initiatives abroad, such as INRAP (Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives) in France and other countries of the developed world.