A MUSEUM director in Italy is setting fire to his art collection in the hope that politicians will take notice. Others have been more subtle in expressing their grief over the decline in public money for the arts. As governments struggle to pay for such basics as education and health care—and with private donations in decline—funding for the arts has taken a hit.

But should funding the arts be the government's responsibility? Join our live debate, which pits the views of Alan Davey, chief executive of England's Arts Council England, against Pete Spence, a research associate at the Adam Smith Institute.