Editor’s Note: The Cereal List is pleased to welcome Benjamins Britten to the aggregate as our Economics Analyst.

In case you’ve missed the news, our economy hasn’t been doing so well. And you know how like in High School the first thing to get cut from the budget were music programs? Well, that same kind of thing is happening on the macro level throughout the country as many orchestras continue to either struggle or bite the dust. And lest we think that this is simply an affliction for the small-fry 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tier outfits, how about the news last week that the Philadelphia Orchestra, needs an extra $15 million just to make ends meet?

As you might expect, opinions vary widely throughout the orchestra world on how to confront such colossal budget shortfalls. The American Symphony Orchestra is now offering $25 tickets for any seat in the house, while the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra likes to raid its own cookie jar.

Interesting ideas, to say the least, however after conducting some vigorous market research, The Cereal List believes it has identified a Der Freischütz-ian magic bullet of a solution to save the nation’s orchestras: stop naming chairs and start selling them on eBay.

“Selling seats from the concert hall can have a doubly positive effect,” said TCL Consultant Reginald Harvey. “Profits from seat sales will generate extra revenue which orchestras can use to pay their musicians the balance they owe them on their contracts, while having less seats in the hall will increase the number of sell-out concerts they’ll have throughout the year. It’s really a win-win for everyone.”