That’s the worst possible example, because they truly don’t make cultural products like movies and music almost anywhere but Los Angeles. If it was about marke

That’s the worst possible example, because they truly don’t make cultural products like movies and music almost anywhere but Los Angeles. If it was about market forces, writers would get paid a bajillion times more. On the contrary, they’re paid terribly, relative to the value their product provides. Same with visual effects artists, just not as bad. Or music: an ecosystem unmatched anywhere but in LA. Even all those Swedish pop artists wind up there. Before you google counterexamples, just ask someone who actually works in film or music. You can’t just throw money at “it.” What seems to make good writers and musicians concentrate in LA doesn’t seem to be 100% governed by conventional market forces. Yes, it’s been difficult to replicate Hollywood! I think experiments with subsidies like for VFX in Vancouver, documentaries in Massachusetts and everything in Savannah, Georgia are interesting and nurture communities at different rates of success. In contrast, Wisconsin gives a $3 billion handout to Foxconn, Wisconsin gets a Foxconn factory. Because it will save money, things adjacent to the plant will be built. Writers cost nothing! There’s no money to save by locating them in LA, the savings on airfare and lodging and communications for a literal single human being is de minimus compared to the budget of a feature film. The scary thing about Shenzhen is all the applause for abstract things like skilled workforces and no appreciation for how different that “IP” is in comparison to e.g. Disney IP, like Mickey Mouse. They are not at all the same knowledge economies, electrical engineering and films.