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來源于《社論》版塊
The $650bn binge
6500億美元的狂歡
Creative
創造力
Creative destruction in the entertainment business has had blockbuster results
娛樂業的“創造性破壞”取得了驚人的成果
America has seen some spectacular investment booms: think of the railways in the 1860s, Detroit’s car industry in the 1940s or the fracking frenzy in this century. Today the latest bonanza is in full swing, but instead of steel and sand it involves scripts, sounds, screens and celebrities. This week Disney launched a streaming service which offers “Star Wars” and other hits from its vast catalogue for $6.99 a month, less than the cost of a DVD. As the business model pioneered by Netflix is copied by dozens of rivals, over 700m subscribers are now streaming video across the planet. Roughly as much cash—over $100bn this year—is being invested in content as it is in America’s oil industry. In total the entertainment business has spent at least $650bn on acquisitions and programming in the past five years.
美國出現了一些引人注目的投資熱潮：想想19世紀60年代的鐵路，20世紀40年代的底特律汽車工業，或者本世紀對水力壓裂的狂熱。如今，最新的熱潮正如火如荼地進行著，但涉及的不是鋼鐵和沙子，而是劇本、聲音、屏幕和名人。本周，迪士尼推出了一項流媒體服務，以每月6.99美元的價格提供《星球大戰》和其他熱門影片，這比一張DVD的價格還低。隨著Netflix開創的商業模式被數十家競爭對手模仿，目前全球有超過7億用戶在觀看流媒體視頻。今年大約有超過1000億美元的現金被投資在內容上，可以對投資在美國石油工業的投資比肩。過去5年，娛樂業在收購和節目制作方面總共花費了至少6500億美元。
This binge is the culmination of 20 years of creative destruction. New technologies and ideas have shaken up music, gaming and now television. Today many people associate economic change with deteriorating living standards: job losses, being ripped-off, or living under virtual monopolies in search and social networks. But this business blockbuster is a reminder that dynamic markets can benefit consumers with lower prices and better quality. Government has so far had little to do with the boom, but when it inevitably peaks the state will have a part to play, by ensuring that the market stays open and vibrant.
這場狂歡是20年創造性破壞的高潮。新技術和新思想撼動了音樂、游戲和電視。如今，許多人將經濟變化與生活水平的下降聯系在一起：失業、被敲竹杠，或生活在搜索和社交網絡的虛擬壟斷之下。但這部商業大片提醒我們，充滿活力的市場能夠以更低的價格和更好的質量造福消費者。到目前為止，政府與經濟繁榮幾乎沒有任何關系，但當經濟不可避免地達到頂峰時，政府將通過確保市場保持開放和活力而發揮作用。
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