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China's Epic Skyscraper Construction Spree: A Harbinger Of The Crash?

Tyler Durden's picture




 

If the Barclays Skyscraper Index, which posits bursts of skyscraper construction are a harbinger of great economic collapse and market crashes, is accurate, then the world is in for a, well, world of pain. And nowhere more so than in China.

While for nearly a century the undisputed leader in the constuction of massive, phallic-looking, mega-buildings that reach for the skies was the US, over the past decade the baton has undpisutedly shifted to the middle east, and specifically the Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which currently house the top and second tallest skyscrapers in the world. The visual progression of the title holder for world's tallest building is shown on the chart below.

 

The complete list of the Top 100 currently completed skyscrapers, courtesy of Skyscraper Center, is shown below.

 

However, as the following summary from Vizual-Statistix indicates, one country that is embarrassingly "only" in fifth place when it comes to tallest buildings is China.

 

Which is why the centrally-planned communist country with a penchant for issuing trillions of dollars in loans each year then bailing out all insolvent financial institutions and shadow banks, and an even greater penchant for creating excess capacity, has taken it upon itself to catch up.

And as the following list of projected skyscrapers, over the next several years China will be host of 5 of the world's top 10 tallest buildings, and 14 of the top 20!

 

That's ok though - China is obviously suffering from a case of Skyscraper envy.

However, the true scale of the problem only emerges when one expands the list of buildings either already in construction or already proposed. The list below shows only the skyscrapers proposed or currently in construction just in China!

Which is why if the Barclays Skysraper Index is indeed correct, then China - ignoring all other sirens of an imminent credit bubble implosion - better watch out below.

Source: Skyscraper Center

 

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Sun, 02/02/2014 - 10:45 | 4393287 ApollyonDestroy
ApollyonDestroy's picture

Meh.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:06 | 4393311 linniepar
linniepar's picture

"One" world trade center. Fuck you NWO and fuck your triangular sides.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:12 | 4393323 Bearwagon
Bearwagon's picture

Wait for a really hot summer day, without a cloud. This thing will collapse into it's own basement as soon as it gets a little warmed up, eh? There are bad earth rays or something at that place, that make steel melt like butter in the microwave.  ;-)

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:34 | 4393353 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

Notice the straight trend line along the roof tops and spires (not including antennas) starting at 1901 with the Dubai tower breaking above it.

So the breaking off of the upper quarter or so of the Dubai tower will be a strong technical signal for the market crashing soon!

And don't forget the Chrysler Building is really a giant rocket for the Cone Heads to go home on!

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 12:51 | 4393503 earleflorida
earleflorida's picture

dubai's occupancy is only at ~50% ... bleeding $$$

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:40 | 4393600 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

They are hoping to fix that with something called the Dubai 2020 Expo.

Kick Can for another 6 years in that blot  in the desert.

Their playbook is full of such "schemes". A world cup here, an olympics there....

ori

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 14:20 | 4393678 mjcOH1
mjcOH1's picture

"f the Barclays Skyscraper Index, which posits bursts of skyscraper construction are a harbinger of great economic collapse and market crashes, is accurate, then the world is in for a, well, world of pain. And nowhere more so than in China."

Should be epic.  

That or the 25 Chinamen most adept at backstabing their way to the top of the slave labor pyramid are more adept at managing growth than the free market (such as it currently is....blessed be the Kenyan).  One of those.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:18 | 4393951 Son of Loki
Son of Loki's picture

BMW Offers $458,000 M6 Luxury Sedan in China

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-29/bmw-offers-458-000-m6-luxury-se...

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:37 | 4393991 cifo
cifo's picture

I remember reading a similar post on ZH a couple of years ago.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:50 | 4394014 Lore
Lore's picture

The taller the building, the smaller the penis.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 19:48 | 4394378 MisterMousePotato
MisterMousePotato's picture

Fascinating to think that the Sears Tower was built a mere 40 years ago. A lot can happen in 40 years, neh?

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:40 | 4393603 Rafferty
Rafferty's picture

You mean like WTC 7?

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 14:53 | 4393734 Terminus C
Terminus C's picture

"These are not the buildings you are looking for..."

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:50 | 4394005 Future Jim
Future Jim's picture

I just had lunch with two coworkers. Both were high dollar IT contractors. One said that he didn't know a third tower fell, and the other said he saw the video and feels certain that an ordinary fire caused that kind of collapse.

BTW, the second guy was a hyperpartisan who thinks that all Republican leaders are evil (especially Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld) and all Republicans voters are stupid. He really likes Hillary. He thinks he is extremely skeptical.

Of course, all conspiracy theories may be wrong, but the official story also cannot be true.

Mon, 02/03/2014 - 14:41 | 4396406 pavman
pavman's picture

While you may not read this reply, I just wanted to add my $0.02.  I was watching when they mentioned tower 7 back in 2001.  They said they had to bring it down in a controlled demolition because of structural damage caused by the impact of the planes hitting the other towers.  I recall this very clearly and I think the people who try to overplay the "collapse of building 7" are just whack jobs and weren't watching the news as this event unfolded.  When I first heard of this conspiracy, I thought it was common knowledge but apparently people are idiots.

Mon, 02/03/2014 - 16:28 | 4397011 Ratscam
Ratscam's picture

wiring up a 42 floor building to bring it down in a controlled demolition (pulling it), requires months of planning and at least 10 days of preparation.
No one can do that in a matter of hours, no one!

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 12:38 | 4393470 National Blessing
National Blessing's picture

I keep waiting for the epic global financial collapse.  But it never seems to happen.  It's all just the same old same old.  I feel like Linus in the pumpkin patch.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:44 | 4393611 Rafferty
Rafferty's picture

Me too.  I think everyone underestimated the durability of the printing 'solution'.  But I live in hope.

 

Jump, you bastards!

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:36 | 4393850 NickVegas
NickVegas's picture

Look at the Continental, the currency of the Revolutionary war. It survived massive counterfeiting by the English. It's all in your belief system.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:52 | 4393893 akak
akak's picture

 

Look at the Continental, the currency of the Revolutionary war. It survived massive counterfeiting by the English.

That is nothing but a bullshit revisionist lie spread by the likes of pro-fiat bankster apologists such as Bill Still the Fiat Shill and Ellen Brown the Money Clown to obfuscate the reality of fiat currency hyperinflation in the United States.  In fact, the large majority of all the Continental Dollars ever issued were printed under the direct authority of the Continential Congress itself, not English counterfeiters.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:59 | 4393909 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

Bill Still the Fiat Shill and Ellen Brown the Money Clown

LOL

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 17:52 | 4394152 WmMcK
WmMcK's picture

I feel like C. Brown trying to kick the ball.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 17:08 | 4394060 Jannn
Mon, 02/03/2014 - 04:27 | 4395141 laomei
laomei's picture

"Meh" is hardly enough to explain the absurdity here.

Here's some basic economics which are ignored far too often by the west, which throws much of the whining about China out the window.  For the sake of stats, I'm going to use the most recent numbers and even be conservative with them, underballing rather than overshooting for China.

China currently has 100t RMB sitting in cash in bank accounts.  Keep in mind of course, that a good number of especially older people do not like/trust banks and keep cash/gold/whatever.  But, ignore that issue and you'll see a per capita, cash, non-invested amount of 77,000 RMB.  A family size of 2.91 means 224k RMB per household, in cash, not invested, not in bonds, securities, fixed deposits, just cash.  That's $37k.  Median household income in 2010 was about $10k.  It's higher now, but fuck it, let's be conservative and call it $10k for the sake of argument.  Household savings rate is 50% on average.  This means, that on average a family can stash away $5k a year in cash.  Unsecured debts are really not an issue, credit cards tend to be paid off in full monthly, student loan debt is not an issue either.  There's the mortgage to worry about, but inability to pay on a primary residence will not result in homelessness, so it's not a huge issue.

 

The US... average household savings is $3800 according to some statistic I saw, but it seems now more like the norm is living hand to mouth... I said I was being conservative though, so I'll abide by that.  Household median income is about $50k with an average savings rate below 4%, but fuck it, let's call it 4%.  Household credit card debt is ~$15k on average, student loan debt is about $23.5k a head, again, not using the most recent numbers, but average taking into account those who graduated quite a while back.  So a typical family with a pair of college grads is sitting on $62k of debt, with $3800 in the bank, pulling some $50k a year pre-tax, or being generous about $46k post-tax.  Average credit card interest rate is now 17% (there goes $2550), student loans about 7% (if you're lucky, there's another $3290).  Without even touching the principle, you're looking at $5840 gone in interest alone, that's 12.7% of your household income, poof, gone on servicing unsecured debt.  So average payments... For that student loan, you're looking at $6900 a year, on that $15k credit card debt, there goes another $5400 on minimum payments.  Keeping in mind of course, if you only make minimums, you're a slave for the next oh, 20+ years.  Congrats, you now have $33.7k in income that might start to be classed as "disposable".  Well, then there's that average $13,500 of auto loan debt which has to be serviced, kiss another $3000 good bye, plus insurance for it, there goes another call it bare-minimum $700.  Down to $30k now.  Another $3k to the gas.  $27k.  Shit, you have another car, in fact you have on average 2.28 cars? Let's just assume the other 1.28 are paid off, add in some very light maintenance and the extra insurance, there's another $1k.  $26k now for an average family that can now start to do things like pay rent/mortgage, buy clothes, food, etc.  Remember to put that 4% into savings, so more like $24k.  Average nationwide mortgage and rent payments are about the same at $1000 a month. Then there's utilities of course and food, and see how fast it just flies out the door?  The *real* disposable income is about $12k a year, assuming you're average of course, and oops, health insurance of course.  Hope you don't get sick/lose your job and get kicked out into the street.

 

Here's the number for China.  Credit card debt? Not an issue, everyone pays in full, and only higher earners really have them.  Student loans? What student loans?  Auto debt? You mean the one you paid for in cash? The one you basically drive for fun and could always just take the bus/subway instead which costs basically nothing? Or perhaps you mean your little moped/motorcycle which burns so little gas it's trivial.  Average household mortgage is 260k RMB, but that's only for the cities, and for those that bought with a mortgage.  Average annual payments are 24k RMB, generally speaking, the average person owns outright and those that bought are earning more than average.  Sure, there are the house slaves, but it's such a minority that it's not a big issue and city household incomes are around 100k RMB now before housing subsidy payments/withholdings which are pre-tax, so you're looking at nothing real paid in taxes either.  Farmer might be poor, but farmer's got his food, shelter and transport settled, so they might not have a lot of "nice things", but the income's mostly just disposable anyways.  Utilities are cheap, food... take your pick really, local markets and eating healthy costs basically nothing, eating out a lot, eating more meat and imports costs more.  Apart from food and housing in the city, everything's cheap... and those low wages you hear about don't bother to mention the company provided food and housing, meaning that those low wages are entirely disposable.

 

The point I'm getting at is this: China may, on average, have low per-capita income, but costs are low and savings rates are high.  What's better? Earning $50k a year, saving $2k of that and seeing the rest of it vanish into thin air.  Or earning $10k a year, saving $5k of that and seeing the rest of it go pretty far.  China has cash and assets, the US primarily debt, and the servicing of that debt is what is fucking everything over.  To the point where *real* "disposable" average household income in 2013 US is at about parity with 2010 China.  Any takers as to how it's comparing with 2013 China?  Sure, you might claim, China saves all that money out of *fear* of hospital bills.  Ok, that's a fair claim which is not inaccurate.  The difference being that Chinese, when dying, don't tend to go to the ends of the earth to keep granny kicking around for another week before the inevitable.  That savings gets passed down, as does the property, rather than seeing it go *poof* in a puff of smoke.  Healthcare reform here can and will unlock a bunch of that cash, and the Chinese government is, indeed pushing for more consumer-led economy.  Not really for the sake of salary, but for domestic jobs growth more than anything else and shoveling the unskilled labor out elsewhere.  Unlocking that cash most certainly will result in much higher wages all around, but that liquidity is not at all a bad thing.  It's fine to have a consumer-economy, it's bad when it becomes a debt-reliant consumer economy that has been stagnant for 30 years.  Fear of that is one of the big reasons you are seeing these massive engineering projects now.  Mainly, because it's still cheap to do it.  A massive subway network, high speed rail, airports galore, a vast expansion of the highway system... land's still cheap and labor is still cheap.  Once higher wages in a consumer-economy take hold, it's impossible.  In fact, in Shanghai and Beijing, you see some of it already.  Roads which were started late and have run into high property values... there they sit, unfinished, because the compensation amounts required are insane.  Once the basic structure is in place, upgrading it later isn't so hard.  The key is having it to begin with.  All those WPA projects back in the 1930s.. you know, the ones that still form the basis of most utilities in the US... how many of those would be even close to feasible today?  Pretty much none of em.  Same deal really.  These jumbo buildings.. once they're built, they're built, and smirk all ya want about Chinese engineering quality, but this sort of stuff is no-expense spared built-to-last shit.  Here's the future you're looking at... "Made in China" might not have as large a market share in the US anymore, but you'll be seeing a lot more BRANDS that are Chinese heading your way, which were primarily designed to be affordable for the middle-class Chinese who outnumber the entire US population.  The main difference is that one side will be paying in cash, the other side going further and further into debt chasing a dream that died half a century prior.

Mon, 02/03/2014 - 14:47 | 4396449 akak
akak's picture

Wow Laomei, fascinating and sobering post!

Thanks so much for taking the time to compose it.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 10:48 | 4393288 AbelCatalyst
AbelCatalyst's picture

Towers of Babel one and all... Will humanity ever learn? It's the same movie rerunning over and over and over.... Kind of funny if it were not so sad!!

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:14 | 4393330 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

An architect once gave a presentation on this to the local Kiwanis Club.

His take was that any building over four stories loses efficiency and is a waste of resources.  The elevators take up way too much space (as a percentage) and cost a fortune to maintain, and the parking/commuting problems are legendary.

It's been decades since people had to huddle together in one building.  That encourages meetings, a classic time sump.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 12:59 | 4393520 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

Agree, with one exception (a shovel ready project, we can use the work).

Build replicas of the Twin Towers out in the dessert somewhere and when completed remotely fly the same type airliners into them at the same locations and speeds and watch what happens.  You know where I'm going with this:  I surmise nothing extraordinary will happen.  Big bang and fires that eventually burn out.  Then we can all enjoy 300 million Americans and billions worldwide turning in unison towards the President for a comment.  I say he blinks.

I would give up my Saturdays running charity pancake feeds to finance this.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:36 | 4393597 Yes_Questions
Yes_Questions's picture

 

 

built to original specs..

 

asbestos and all.

 

 

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:02 | 4393913 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

There really is nothing wrong with asbestos as long as you don't breathe it, touch it, or make eye contact with it.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:41 | 4393602 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

Brilliant idea Ignatius! :-)

They can get the aircraft for cheap from one of hem Arrizona boneyards too.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:44 | 4393916 New World Chaos
New World Chaos's picture

This is the kind of project that can only happen after the revolution.  BitCoin kickstarter epic Lord of the Rings length Mythbusters 9/11 special!  The official story is the myth.  When the plane flames out, see how much nanothermite it takes.  When even that won't keep the hosed-down basement hot for months, try a neutron bomb.  You know it will end with them blowing shit up.  That's what always happens when it's myth BUSTED.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:35 | 4393595 Midas
Midas's picture

I think he is probably right about the loss of efficiency, but I am sure there are variables from location to location.  That is why I get a kick out of the towers in Dubai. They appear to be in the middle of the, uh, desert, with miles of open land in every direction.   I do think Taipai 101 is a real gem though.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:28 | 4393807 11b40
11b40's picture

Cheers to the Taipei 101, and the natives love it, too.  It is a real source of pride for them, as is their relatively well-managed economy.  I have not been there since 2006, but it was a busy place with tons of visitors.  Never went up to the obsevation deck as I did not have time to wait.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 17:17 | 4394068 LMAOLORI
LMAOLORI's picture

 

 

Skyscrapers built out of cards

 

The $15 trillion shadow over Chinese banks

 

China analyst Charlene Chu explains why the nation is on the verge of crisis

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10611931...

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 10:48 | 4393291 philosophers bone
philosophers bone's picture

But they are still so far behind - haven't they developed the expertise to let the cavemen fly commercial aircraft carriers into them?

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 10:50 | 4393293 TideFighter
TideFighter's picture

Seems ethnic groups having small penises build taller monumental erections. They could use more Porsche dealerships.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:04 | 4393920 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

You've just explained why Africa has few tall buildings and many mud huts. Brilliant!

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:03 | 4393310 CheapBastard
CheapBastard's picture

Lots of money to go around and wheels to be greased when they build one of these things....

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:06 | 4393312 Bearwagon
Bearwagon's picture

These things will turn out to be unliveable whithout an abundance of cheap energy. Might as well be teared down immediately.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:21 | 4393341 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Paris still has a boat load of six/seven story walk ups.  With one rickety service elevator somewhere if you can find it.

That's some measure of maximum utility for building up, up, up.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:14 | 4393546 Matt
Matt's picture

Elevators are actually one of the most efficient systems for mass transit. Pretty sure they vastly exceed buses and trains in their efficiency.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:46 | 4393615 brown_hornet
brown_hornet's picture

Try running an elevator outside in a Chicago winter.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 14:54 | 4393738 Bunga Bunga
Bunga Bunga's picture

And try running an elevator when there is a power outage.

Mon, 02/03/2014 - 05:06 | 4395170 laomei
laomei's picture

Power outages have become stupidly rare in China... it's almost as if they cared about critical infrastructure or something.  Like, back in the day, there were rolling scheduled blackouts in smaller cities to help with the demands, but that's all pretty much a thing of the past now.  In my 10+ years in Beijing, I have had 0 outages of power not including scheduled building maintenance windows of less than an hour.  Furthermore, when power DOES go out, the people don't panic and start rioting... they find a flashlight.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:16 | 4393331 Tom G
Tom G's picture

China didn't build that.

The US government was and is primarily responsible.

Our Dear Leader once shot a 23 on an 18 hole golf course and then taxed and regulated 3 skyscrapers into existence!

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:14 | 4393333 ziggy59
ziggy59's picture

In a world of whacked out megalomaniacs, size still matters...

We are in trouble....

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:16 | 4393334 Never One Roach
Never One Roach's picture

Did Chris Christie see his shadow this morning when he crawled out of his den?

Or was that a skyscraper's shadow sprawling across the NJ plains?

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:17 | 4393335 Temporalist
Temporalist's picture

Ok since nobody said it...

Penis envy much?

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:20 | 4393340 spanish inquisition
spanish inquisition's picture

Kingdom tower - I hope they put a steam plant on top of that so it can spew little white spurts of clouds to complete the image.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:29 | 4393350 youngman
youngman's picture

Its like owning a football team...its a knotch on the belt....an I got one and you dont thing....the bigger the badder.....but it is true..the higher you go the less efficent...to much space is used by non producing items...like elevators.....but they sure look pretty...lol...

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 12:38 | 4393472 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

Thank God for housing bubbles and energy booms then.

The whole thing is a deception.

Wind down the QE and let's see what happens.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:19 | 4393557 new game
new game's picture

build it and they will finance-ha.

eat tuesday's hormone injected beef burger today and let the life insurance policy pay the bills and burial costs

born to your heirs...

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:33 | 4393356 Seasmoke
Seasmoke's picture

When physical Gold become hard to find, it's a good idea to stay out of tall buildings. 

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:40 | 4393368 reader2010
reader2010's picture

The power of the culture industry’s ideology is such that conformity has replaced consciousness. The order that springs from it is never confronted with what it claims to be or with the real interests of human beings. Order, however, is not good in itself. It would be so only as a good order. The fact that the culture industry is oblivious to this and extols order in abstract, bears witness to the impotence and untruth of the messages it conveys. While it claims to lead the perplexed, it deludes them with false conflicts which they are to exchange for their own. It solves conflicts for them only in appearance, in a way that they can hardly be solved in their real lives.

-Theodor Adorno

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:51 | 4393385 DeliciousSteak
DeliciousSteak's picture

Powerful. That made me feel bad. I need a smoke.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 12:13 | 4393415 Spastica Rex
Spastica Rex's picture

Adorno would have enjoyed writing essays about Apple.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 12:14 | 4393416 RagnarDanneskjold
RagnarDanneskjold's picture

More here: 87% of World's Skyscrapers Being Built in China

http://investinginchinesestocks.blogspot.com/2014/02/china-skyscraper-ro...

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:20 | 4393558 earleflorida
earleflorida's picture

China's, 'Civilian Conservation of Wealth Corps -Communist Style'  (build it and they will come?)

get the youth and poor indoctrinated for, 'father and hero Mao', once again... before wwiii breaks out and they're ready to go for the new nationalist communist party that cares about them? a welfare system within a depression harbors compressed resistance that's quite volatile when massaged by anti-americanism-- tethered to an asian pivot with the jap's being the anchor!?!

in america we just don't believe in work anymoar!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservative_Corps

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:40 | 4393856 11b40
11b40's picture

First, the link does not work:

"Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name."

Second, "a welfare system within a depression harbors compressed resistance that's quite volatile when massaged by anti-americanism-- tethered to an asian pivot with the jap's being the anchor!?"

What?  The Chinese make an Asian pivot with Japan as the Anchor?  Are you drunk?  The Asian countries are scared shitless of China's resurgent militarism, and if anything, will pivot toward America for protection, if my view of history blended with current events is correct.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:12 | 4393770 matrix2012
matrix2012's picture

2014-02-02

China Skyscraper Roundup

ZeroHedge notices China's skyscraper craze here: China's Epic Skyscraper Construction Spree: A Harbinger Of The Crash?

 

This topic was covered several times last year, including prominently in the Chinese press. Below are posts on the topic:

http://investinginchinesestocks.blogspot.com/2014/02/china-skyscraper-roundup.html

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 12:28 | 4393447 Playtime's Over
Playtime's Over's picture

Wonder what the A rabs would do if a wacky Christian group flew a plane into that big building?  

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:23 | 4393564 MayIMommaDogFac...
MayIMommaDogFace2theBananaPatch's picture

Simple logic says "blame Iran and then attack Afghanistan," right?

</sarc>

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 12:35 | 4393467 Jack Sheet
Jack Sheet's picture

Quiz question: how much sperm is produced on the average in the top 10 of these buildings in one 24 h time interval ?
Estimates in liters or US quarts accepted.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:15 | 4393548 MedicalQuack
MedicalQuack's picture

You can agree or disagree with me but tons of empty skyscrapers to me indicates we have a big problem with folks not being able to separate the real world from the virtual worlds...in the real world they sit empty, right?  So WTF?  China bought in big time it seems:)

http://engineering.columbia.edu/ny-times-taps-prof-wiggins-chief-data-sc...

This is a huge issue and of course the banks promote values of data on servers is being #1 but what is the data and what kind of decision making is coming out of all of this...let's see what the NY Times does with their new Data Scientist does...they hired from Columbia..they want to mine and learn about what kind of news they have been putting out there:) Who knows where the focus will be here on quality or more articles for more clicks, but they seem to be ahead of most as you find Huffington Post and others that go for the clicks and even Forbes media, which they are trying to sell has pay for performance going for all their contributors.  Granted you can still have quality and a lot of clicks for sure, but how many take the short cut to our emotional jugulars and put out OMG and soap opera stuff..a lot do that:)

It's the rise of the journobot with more data out there to analyze and create a news story from for sure.  Good videos explain the changing face of the news.

http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/01/cms-modifies-policy-on-disclosure...

 

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:17 | 4393552 Sufiy
Sufiy's picture

Too many people are bearish on China now, do not underestimate the concentrated state power and resolve over there. Trust Lehman shock has never happened and Chinese operators are very clever buying on the cheap Gold, Copper, Lithium and other resources. 

 


Lithium Drive: Beijing To Fight Air Pollution By Making 40% Of All New Cars Hybrids 


Electric Cars will be the logical solution for China's pollution problems. At least with urban mobility electric cars can dramatically improve the air quality very fast. For years critics were pointing out that electricity is produced in China in large percentage by the coal power plants, the latest Party Plenum has taken the clear path towards greener electricity sources: natural gas, nuclear, wind and solar.    Now the only thing left out is the reliable technology to put the real electric cars for mass market on the roads. All major electric cars players are already presented in China: Nissan, GM, Ford, Toyota. Home grown BYD is making its way with electric proposition and taking the market of Electric Buses now. Tesla Motors is already selling Model S in China and there are reports that this electric car can be produced in China as well. Kandi with its concept of electric cars for rent from the vending machine is another very important development. We are talking here not only about Beijing and Shanghai, but more than 160 cities in China with population over 1 million people.   Now China again makes the bold move into the electric space and its lithium batteries and lithium materials industry is making very big progress under the radar screens of general investors. http://sufiy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/lithium-drive-beijing-to-fight-air.h...

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:45 | 4393613 The Merovingian
The Merovingian's picture

Spoken like a true believer that China is the answer to all our problems ... The leadership in China are much like the pharaohs of ancient Egypt when they built the pyramids ... it's simply f_ing amazing what you can accomplish with an endless supply of cheap, disposable labor isn't it?  China is already the biggest superfund site in the world, and still growing.  They will NEVER become the world's innovative leader, reserve currency, or anything else ... except being the biggest polluter.  Nor will they lead us all to prosperity with their ingenuity and ethics ... unless you count discovering new ways to steal copyrighted material and intellectual property a virtueous skill.  China's level of corruption and bribery makes Rahm's Chicago look pristine by comparison.  Crawl back in your blog hole and STFU already.  

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 14:23 | 4393630 jbvtme
jbvtme's picture

pyramids not built by pharaohs. likely constructed from the top down in the 4th dimension before the flood. cymatics also a possibie tool. they were power plants

Mon, 02/03/2014 - 04:49 | 4395159 laomei
laomei's picture

Sounds like someone's jelly

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 14:47 | 4393722 Saul Sage
Saul Sage's picture

You obviously dont know shit about china. Cars are not the problem (or better said, they are a small part of it). The real problem is that China is in the stone age when it comes to how they cook. Blue coal trucks drive everywhere selling either (a) coal pucks, which billions of farmers/peasant factory workers use on coal burning stoves, or (b) regular coal, that gets dumped by the truckload in factory corrals which the factories then use to power their generators. Simply put: the pollution is all soot.

Go outside for a couple hours and you can see the soot accumulate like snowflakes on your skin and clothes. When you arrive in a major metropolitan area like shanghai/beijing you think, "wow this pollution is way worse than mexico city, or LA." Then you take a drive out to the countryside and realize that it gets worse(!), because chinese cities are at least partially powered by coal power plants whereas the countryside has few power plants, and these are mostly used just to power factories. Cars are a problem like anywhere, but not the reason why china is fucked.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 17:23 | 4394095 americanspirit
americanspirit's picture

Saul Sage - to second your excellent post, a further problem is that China has virtually zero anthracite coal. Almost all their coal is soft, brown coal that is chock full of nasty heavy metals like mercury. If they realize that they have a population growth issue because of the one-child policy. wait till they see the consequences of their three eyed, two fingered, cleft palate, spina bifida child policy.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:26 | 4393574 new game
new game's picture

china has reserves to handle all there problems for near term-called savings!(foriegn reserves).

china has all the problems of centrally planned corrupt regime. aren't they all.

plus they can start dumping treasuries and fuck us over in a heartbeat.

and putting tons of gold in vaults.(if what we read is true)!

who is sucking hind tit?

as i recall, he/she who has the wealth with no debt, calls the shots...

unless_________________________________________________________...

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:50 | 4393885 11b40
11b40's picture

He who has the weapons calls the shots.

 Just a few tarrif barriers from the Western countries, and China is toast.  Let them feed gold and FRN's to the peasants.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 13:29 | 4393580 Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

I'd like to ask a question.  High-rises are homes to bankers, attorneys, bureaucrats, government offices, etc. 

Has anything good every come out of a high rise?

 

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:19 | 4393954 Emergency Ward
Emergency Ward's picture

"The Towering Inferno"?

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 14:19 | 4393674 Let them eat iPads
Let them eat iPads's picture

The Chinks were supposed to start building Sky City 2 years ago.

They said it would be erected in 90 days from pre-fab units.

 

Here we are 2 years later and they still haven't started. These assholes are all talk.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 14:20 | 4393677 fijisailor
fijisailor's picture

In the past the Chinese have dealt with problems in very direct and unexpected ways.  They may just mark to market all those buildings, take the losses and get on with producing crap the whole world buys.  I expect decisive action on their part that may shock pussy western bankers and central banks.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:20 | 4393957 Carl Popper
Carl Popper's picture

Let us see what surprises like that and such unpredictability does to confidence and investment and savings.

There is no easy way out of an excessive credit expansion.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:22 | 4393805 malek
malek's picture

Maybe someone would want to take a look outside the top XXX lists - for example in greater Melbourne, Australia they're building skyscrapers like crazy.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 17:29 | 4394104 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

The sighting of building cranes are a sign that the top of the bubble is at hand.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:25 | 4393824 ms8172
ms8172's picture

It's going to end badly....jut keep printing!

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 15:37 | 4393848 Rising Sun
Rising Sun's picture

Chinese engineering = Working French

 

Oxymorons.

 

 

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:17 | 4393952 Carl Popper
Carl Popper's picture

Excessive Real Estate speculation is a classic sign of a top and nothing is a greater sign of capital misallocation than a skyscraper or hundreds of skyscrapers built on "spec." Without confirmed tenants or a confirmed sale)

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:20 | 4393956 patb
patb's picture

only way to get to clean air. Build something 65 stories tall.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:37 | 4393989 lolmao500
lolmao500's picture

At least China is giving decent jobs to it's employees... in Dubai, most construction workers are basically slaves... most construction workers PAY to get a job in Dubai... and when they get there... THEY DON'T GET PAID....their family is back at home years of salary in debt... and the husband can't send money home... and of course the workers are STUCK in Dubai with no money to go back... and this is not an isolated case... estimates put the number of such slave workers at 1+ million.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:37 | 4393994 Flounder
Flounder's picture

Burj Khalifa.  Sewage held in a tanker truck 24 hrs waiting for disposal.  In India, many buildings are responsible for providing their own water and their own wastewater removal.  Yeech.

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=141858484

 

Mon, 02/03/2014 - 04:30 | 4395145 laomei
laomei's picture

Yep, they do that because the country is a neoliberal hellhole which refuses to build infrastructure and the companies responsible for the buildings refuse to develop them either beyond the absolute bare minimum, which is apparently 0.  And that's why India is the land of corpse-rivers that contain more human feces than water.

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 16:48 | 4394008 esum
esum's picture

take a look at  the wash dc building spree

you would think the economy was boomin

at least 2 dozen cranes busily building HQ's for the fucking useless crooks to milk the taxpayers

and provide not a fucking thing of use except 25Trillion debt by the time clown obumbler and his thugs leaves office...

this is the most corrupt regime in the hsitroy of mankind... they dont know anything but are experst at stealing

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 17:27 | 4394100 americanspirit
americanspirit's picture

Esum - Passion trumps spelling every time. Go for it!

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 17:31 | 4394108 rsnoble
rsnoble's picture

China was fucking stupid enough to try and be like the US, you model after failure guess what happens?

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 17:32 | 4394109 libsareajoke
libsareajoke's picture

what da fuck, over.  oh, wait, wrong zh article

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 18:33 | 4394261 chump666
chump666's picture

These buildings are poorly built monuments of crap. Architecture today is a travesty, with glory seekers and crony a-holes all feeding from the same troth.  Building Potemkin piles of rubbish, porous steel and energy inefficient zombies. 

 

Sun, 02/02/2014 - 18:45 | 4394277 goldinpenguin
goldinpenguin's picture

I assume few of these building are (financially) self supporting based on rent rolls and there are slews of  competitors being built that will make these investments even worse. So these are like modern day Great Walls and Pyramids (and built in the same areas as the originals) that keep the trolls busy. Economic stimulation during growthy times - what will they do when growth slows?

They are building uneconomic office towers when the trend is for paper pushers to work at home and save employers pricey square footage.

I hope our TBTF are not invested in these but when the shit hits the observation decks the ripple effects will be felt by all and the Fed will own towers throughout Arabia and the Orient. Welcome to Yellen Tower!

Mon, 02/03/2014 - 00:32 | 4394905 AdvancingTime
AdvancingTime's picture

We are just beginning to see the slow down in China. The 6.6 trillion dollar spending spree used as stimulus in China after 2008 to combat global economic slowdown is coming back to haunt China. This has greatly expanded credit and created huge overcapacity during the past five years. A massive debt crisis now looms in the offing as companies struggle to repay loans for new factories sit idle because of weak demand. The post below goes into detail,

http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2013/11/china-land-of-overcapacity-and-de...

 

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