A string quartet needs the same four musicians it did in 1800, at far higher cost

Playing a Beethoven quartet still takes four musicians the same time it took two centuries ago; there's no factory-style productivity gain available. Yet their wages must keep pace with pay in industries that did get more productive, or musicians would leave the profession. William Baumol and William Bowen showed this quietly drives up costs across labor-intensive services, live performance, education, healthcare, even when the service itself never changes.

— William J. Baumol and William G. Bowen, Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma — 1966
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