Clipboard Brief: #6

Some interesting things I came across recently —

1. Netflix: The Monster That’s Eating Hollywood (The Wall Street Journal, original link)
   Maybe Hollywood and the entertainment industry had become used to original Netflix content being focused on scripted dramas and sitcoms. Maybe they couldn’t anticipate a big-spending entertainment rival with $60 billion in market capitalisation spending close to $6 billion to produce 70+ shows a year. Now they have to go toe-to-toe with Netflix not only for eyeballs, but also for talent — camera crews, sound engineers, postproduction specialists and actors!
2. Is the Era of Cheap Uber Rides Over? (Quartz)
   Cheap rides are synonymous with Uber. This well-researched article explains how Uber has kept them cheap by skirting tax obligations (in many countries) and deep discounting. But a clever ploy that yielded explosive growth doesn’t justify an (approximate) annual loss of $3 billion — even for a company that’s raised more than $14 billion and is valued at $68 billion — at its 2016 burn rate, Uber will exhaust its current financing in a little more than two years.
3. Trump and China (Foreign Affairs, paywall)
   The relationship between US and China is unique — even when the two sides pursue a bilateral agenda guided by their own perceived interests, their relationship is capable of shaping multilateral outcomes. Lamenting that the relationship is often framed in zero-sum terms, the article suggests that an effective way for US to check the growing assertiveness of President’s Xi’s China — internationally powerful but domestically anxious — is to involve allies and partners in Asia (as the top trading partner of most Asian nations including India, China serves as the economic hub of an increasingly integrated Asian economy) and get it to act as a responsible stakeholder in the international system.
4. The Festering Twin Balance Sheet Problem (The Economic Survey 2016–17)
   Chapter 4 of The Economic Survey deals with India’s twin balance sheet (TBS) problem — where both the banking and the corporate sector are ‘severely stressed’. The chapter discusses how the TBS problem has been dealt with so far, a strategy it calls ‘to give time to time’ and how India has managed to achieve rapid growth despite this problem (a recent article in The Economist points out that state-owned lenders make up around 70% of the system, and nobody thinks the government will let them go bust). Finally, the chapter outlines what needs to be done.
5. If Humble People Make the Best Leaders, Why Do We Fall for Charismatic Narcissists? (Harvard Business Review)
   Argument: Instead of following the lead of humble and unassuming people, we appear hardwired to search for leaders who exude charisma.
   Excerpt: When followers are confused and disoriented that they are more likely to form personalized relationships with a charismatic leader. Socialized relationships, on the other hand, are established by followers with a clear set of values who view the charismatic leader as a means to achieve collective action.

Two additional sources —

1. The 21st Century Gold Rush: How the Refugee Crisis is Changing the World Economy
2. A Photograph of Sir Isaac Newton’s Apple Tree in Lincolnshire, England