Good artists copy, great artists steal. To develop good taste you need to observe lots of other, better work and try to understand what makes them so. Taste isn't something you inherently have.
100% correct. Speaking from first-hand knowledge: artists who develop their career in isolation from other artists generally produce either terrible or subpar work. There are exceptions but they are getting rarer as our culture becomes more global. In other words, globalization of culture sets expectations. Something similar may apply to the economy.