11/30/19Leaders
The $650bn binge Creative destruction in the entertainment business has had blockbuster results .America has seen出现 some spectacular investment booms: think of the railways in the 1860s, Detroit's car industry in the 1940s or the fracking frenzy水力压裂 in this century. Today the latest bonanza（热潮） is in full swing（如火如荼）, but instead of steel and sand it involves scripts, sounds, screens and celebrities. This week Disney launched a streaming service （流媒体服务）which offers "Star Wars" and other hits （热门影片）from its vast catalogue for $6.99 a month, less than the cost of a DVD.
As the business model pioneered （开创）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（节目制作） in the past five years. This binge is the culmination （cilimax）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（敲竹杠）, 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.
