Even HSBC, a British bank with a sterling reputation, ingrained prudence and a history of astute acquisitions has stumbled in recent years when entering markets where unfamiliarity prevented it from bringing these traits to bear.

ECONOMIST: Face value

Compared with the film-makers of Hollywood, who populate Los Angeles' most venerable cluster, or the metal workers in northern Italy, who have been around for centuries, toytown lacks a distinctive and deeply ingrained collection of skills that make a region's advantage so hard to imitate.

ECONOMIST: The puppet-master of toytown

Perhaps a long-ingrained preference for permanence is being replaced by a desire for the perpetually changing.

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