New technologies and cultural consumption

Australian electricity spot prices differ considerably from equity spot prices in that they contain an extremely rapid mean-reversion process. The electricity spot price could increase to a market cap price of AU$12,500 per megawatt hour (MWh) and revert back to a mean level (AUD$30) within a half-hour interval. New technologies affect cultural consumption in several ways. Technological change lowers the cost of cultural consumption, inducing substitution and/or increasing demand, in both cases increasing consumer welfare. Technological change can also impact dynamically, inducing increased variety supplied both by professionals and amateurs, and facilitating the exploration of new cultural consumption experiences. In cultural production, as in other sectors, the ultimate beneficiaries of technological change are consumers.