This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Beijing, We Have A Problem
Submitted by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,
The Chinese stock market hit a four year high today at 3,020. This is up 53% since the middle of 2013 low and up 48% in the last six months. I guess this must mean the Chinese economy is operating on all cylinders. If you think so, you’d be wrong. Barron’s interviewed a no-nonsense woman who has lived, worked and analyzed China from within since 1985. Anne Stevenson-Yang has spent the bulk of her professional life there working as a journalist, magazine publisher, and software executive, with stints in between heading up the U.S. Information Technology office and the China operations of the U.S.-China Business Council. She’s now research director of J Capital, an outfit that works for foreign investors in China doing fundamental research on local companies and tracking macroeconomic developments.
This lady is about as blunt as you can get about Chinese fraud, lies, mal-investment, and data manipulation. The entire Chinese economic miracle is a fraud. The reforms are false. The leaders are corrupt and as evil as ever. The entire edifice is built upon a Himalayan mountain of bad debt.
The slave labor manufacturer for the world’s mal-investments since 2008 make Japan look like pikers.
China, for all its talk about economic reform, is in big trouble. The old model of relying on export growth and heavy investment to power the economy isn’t working anymore. Sure, the nation has been hugely successful over recent decades in providing its people with literacy, a decent life, basic health care, shelter, and safe cities. But starting in 2008, China sought to counter global recession with huge amounts of ill-advised investment in redundant industrial capacity and vanity infrastructure projects—you know, airports with no commercial flights, highways to nowhere, and stadiums with no teams. The country is now submerged by the tsunami of bad debt that begets further unhealthy credit growth to service this debt.
The BLS should take lessons from the Chinese government in data falsification. But, the American MSM dutifully reports the Chinese data as if it was real. Faux journalism at its finest.
People are crazy if they believe any government statistics, which, of course, are largely fabricated. In China, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of physics holds sway, whereby the mere observation of economic numbers changes their behavior. For a time we started to look at numbers like electric-power production and freight traffic to get a line on actual economic growth because no one believed the gross- domestic-product figures. It didn’t take long for Beijing to figure this out and start doctoring those numbers, too.
Real numbers from the real economy and real companies reveal the truth about the Chinese economy. If revenues are falling, why is the Chinese stock market up 48% in the last six months? The same reason the U.S. stock market is up. Rampant speculation created by blind faith in central bankers and central banks buying stocks.
I’d be shocked if China is currently growing at a rate above, say, 4%, and any growth at all is coming from financial services, which ultimately depend on sustained growth in the rest of the economy. Think about it: Property sales are in decline, steel production is falling, commercial long-and short-haul vehicle sales are continuing to implode, and much of the growth in GDP is coming from huge rises in inventories across the economy. We track the 400 Chinese consumer companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets, and in the third quarter, their gross revenues fell 4% from a year ago. This is hardly a vibrant economy.
The Chinese are learning the same thing as Americans. Stimulus does nothing for the average person or the real economy. It benefits crony capitalists and crony communists. It results in mal-investment, booming stock markets and ultimately a bust – that will negatively impact the average person.
By our calculations, since June the central government directly and indirectly has added more than $400 billion of stimulus and relaxed lending terms for housing purchases. Yet, every spasm of new stimulus seems less and less effective in boosting the economy. So most likely, China is sinking into a deflationary recession that’s increasing in speed and may take some time to run its course. Investors have lost faith in the property market, which alone comprises about 20% of GDP, when taking into account the entire supply chain, from iron-ore production to construction to related financial services and appliance sales. Employment and wage compensation will suffer. Consumption will continue to suffer. There’s even an outside possibility that China’s economic miracle could end up in a fiery crash landing, if a surge in banking-system loan defaults outruns government regulators’ attempt to contain such a credit crisis and restore financial confidence.
The diminishing effectiveness of Keynesian claptrap projects is evident for all to see.
The giant government economic-stimulus programs since 2008 are rapidly losing their effectiveness. The reason is simple. Much of the money has been squandered in money-losing industrial projects and vanity infrastructure spending that make no economic sense beyond supplying temporary bump-ups in GDP growth. China is riding an involuntary credit treadmill where much new money has to be hosed into the economy just to sustain ever-mounting bad-debt totals. Capital efficiency, or the amount of capital it takes to generate a unit of GDP growth, has soared as a result.
Nothing like 50 million unoccupied housing units to create the greatest housing bust in world history. Maybe Blackstone can work its buy to rent strategy in China. It’s worked so well here in the U.S.
The Chinese home real estate market, mostly units in high-rise buildings, is truly bizarre. Many Chinese regard apartments as capital-gains machines rather than sources of shelter. In fact, there are 50 million units in China that are owned but vacant. The owners won’t rent them because used apartments suffer an immediate haircut in value. It’s as if the government created a new asset class that no one lives in. This fact gives lie to the commonly held myth that the buildout of all these empty towers and ghost cities is a Chinese urbanization play. The only city folk who don’t own housing are the millions of migrant laborers continuously flocking to Chinese cities. Yet, they can’t afford the new housing.
China should rename themselves Bad Debts R Us. I’m sure they can keep the bad debt balls in the air for another decade. Right?
Interestingly, liquidity seems to be a growing problem in China. Chinese corporations have taken on $1.5 trillion in foreign debt in the past year or so, where previously they had none. A lot of it is short term. If defaults start to cascade through the economy, it will be more difficult for China to hide its debt problems now that foreign investors are involved. It’s here that a credit crisis could start. Bad debt in China never seems to get written down. The huge pile of nonperforming bank loans that Beijing assumed earlier in the millennium in order to be able to take its major banks public still sits on the balance sheets of various asset-management companies.
China is still an evil communist nation that disregards human rights, murders its citizens, crushes dissent, and suppresses free speech. Other than that, they are a great bunch of guys.
In my opinion, the press is somewhat guilty of willing suspension of disbelief on developments in China. Xi’s agenda of Confucian [moral] purification has nothing to do with opening up the economy or social reform. He wants to bolster the power of the Communist Party and tamp down the cynicism about the system that is increasing in China. This explains in large part his bellicosity in the South China Sea, quashing of dissent on the Internet and elsewhere, and heavy-handed attacks on non-Han populations like the Uighurs. He openly disdains Western democratic values. As for Xi’s much-ballyhooed anti-corruption campaign inside China, it offends me that international media depict it as a good-governance effort. What’s really going on is an old-style party purge reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s with quota-driven arrests, summary trials, mysterious disappearances, and suicides, which has already entrapped, by our calculations, 100,000 party operatives and others. The intent is not moral purification by the Xi administration but instead the elimination of political enemies and other claimants to the economy’s spoils.
Nothing like a little blunt truth on the day the Chinese stock market hits a four year high. Nothing but smoggy skies ahead.

- 42616 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -


gotta love debt-money
"The Chinese stock market hit a four year high today at 3,020."
That was yesterday.
Today, it was down over 5% from its high around 3,100 to just 2,856
Alas, alas, triple alas, Chinese citizenism citizens with MBAs from 'american' universities paid attention in class and applied those lessons. To their detriment.
how is this different than USA?
USA is still an evil capitalist nation that disregards human rights (Guantanamo), murders its citizens (drones), crushes dissent (militarized police), and suppresses free speech (controlled Media).
On the other hand it serves-up great steaks so essentially it's a wash
That's cuz we slather 'em with butter, 'n everything's better with butter!
Who will win the race to hit bottom?
http://y2u.be/tOW5eljyjms
You are that vegan guy
"How is this different...?"
SMOG and mirror (cap<--->com).
Crap is about to get real. Buy rope.
So I'm wondering.
Does the CHINESE version of Simon Black's blog tell all the chinks to move their money into safer foreign countries [like the USA]?
Black and and people like him endorse the Perpetual Tourist lifestyle.
You want your assets spread into at least three countries, none of which should be the same as your citizenship, your official place of residence, the country you make your money in, or where you actually live.
Bank, citzenship, official residence, income generation, and current actual residence need to be at least five seperate flags, with the bank being split into at the very least, two countries. Hence, "Five Flags", with six or seven flags being a safer bet.
So, no, Simon Black would not endorse putting all your financial eggs in one country's basket. The US is actually a faily safe place to bank, provided you don't live here, are not a citizen, and don't piss off someone in Washington. Make sure the bank you use has a Texas Ratio of under 10%, and be aware that the dollar absolutely will crash fairly soon. Agricultural real estate may be a better store of wealth in the US for foriegners.
Or better yet, gold, Bitchez.
"perpetual..." gypsies !
biblical...(back to), no?
Countries rise and fall...NWO has no border, no?
"The US is actually a faily safe place to bank... GOLD BITCHEZ!"
So basically... Under 33 Liberty in NYC, or Ft. Knox ought to be pretty safe right? Whew ~ I was worried there for awhile.
You still should be.
Note that I suggested ag real estate. If you buy gold, I suggest storing it outside the US.
The Treasury and the Fed are criminal organizations ... strike that. Mafiosi are more honest.
Ultimately, Gravity is the only winner.
You mean BACON. Everything's better with BACON.
"That's cuz we slather 'em with butter"
"There are only two food groups; butter and butter vehicles"
Old Vermonter
Bacon is a butter vehicle.
"how is this different than USA?"
See what you did there, Aldous? See how you did that? Someone - doesn't matter who - says something - doesn't matter what - less than 1000% fawningly approval of an institution - doesn't matter what kind: nation, political ideology, mode of thought - less than wildly enthusiastic about a foreign institution, and quick like a bunny, you blurt out "Hey!! Thuh USA sucks too!! Even *worser*, in fact!!!"
Just like that Godlike figure of your youth, "teacher" instructed and indoctrinated you to. Say, apropos of nothing, are you at all familiar with the word "pavlovian", old sport? I am curious, though: when you blurt out those 'USA sucks too' kneejerk responses, are you at all aware you're doing it, or is it just a purely unconscious thing? Like when dogs drool at the sound of the dinner bell?
The only problem with Aldous' post is that he described America as 'capitalist'.
Other than that., it was fine.
I think he meant to say "Crapitalists" and his spell checker circumvented it.
the rise of the machines begins with the destruction of language and the means to communicate by humans.
The "stimulus" must have been the numerous memories of patriots like you chanting "USA! USA!" whenever the USA is said to be better in some respect than the lowest common denominator.
Actually, I saw similarlties, too. In the last sentence of the last quote this phrease was used..the elimination of political enemies...
It is just so Obama.
The big ass TV celebrity craze has not landed in China as of yet...but gloriously hopeful people's scientists at Beijing Univarsity are hooking to rectumfy that spoon.
Wait what ?
They have a whole rank and PLA branch related to this. I'm 100% serious Bill. Check out the last 3 pop bands to come out of the mainland.
Yea but he's about to lose his wife.
So the Chinese are going to turn their backs on slender femininity?
Why is it that the rest of the world copies every stupid idea or trend to come out of the U.S.?
The wolrd is one big ass bubble.
you've got that right
ooh that smell
Only yours there einstien.
Cheap vegetable oils and cheap carbs make cheap sheeple fuel. Steak, bacon, cheese, butter, vegetables, quality fats and legumes cost more.
Differences:
China: "... the nation has been hugely successful over recent decades in providing its people with literacy, a decent life, basic health care, shelter, and safe cities."
USA: "... the nation has been largely successful over recent decades in giving its people illiteracy, a declining life, ObamaCare, unaffordable shelter, and unsafe cities."
Hey - but both governments embrace the same foundational philosophies ... it's just that the US hasn't gone through it's "Order from Chaos" phase just yet....
It's a decent life until you die from the poisoned, toxic air, water, soil (and therefore food), which has led to China having an epidemic order of the highest cancer and birth defect rates in the world, and rising rapidly. Chinese cities aren't that safe--petty thievery and break-ins are much, much more prevalent than in the US. While there is something to be said for public banking: so has Japan, but its economy has contracted by nearly 50% since its peak in 1989. With the massive trend toward automation in labor intensive manufacturing and its movement out of China anyway, how will they make up for the low skilled job losses? As for corruption, it's visible everywhere you look--massive, shodily constructed and unoccupied building projects overgrown with weeds and falling apart are ubiquitous, even in city centers, and if you look closely at the Shanghai and Beijing night skylines, at least half the units are vacant. All this was driven by collusive corruption between land developers, local governments and bankers. The recent, mysterious skyrocketing moves in the Shanghai and Shenzhen indices actually signify an internal panic...
"Oh, YEAH?? Well, the USA sucks TOO! Even *worser*, in fact!! Also, SLAVERY!!!" - legions of mind-numbed indoctrinated shitwits who no doubt think of themselves as worldly
Or more accurately, Democrat party policies have...
"Evil" is a strong word. I think "incompetent" or"kleptocratic" would be more appropriate, but those terms have been used already on ZH.
Because the Chinese have a public banking system they can cancel loans or make them interest free so they have the ability to work through this mess, The USA does not have this ability because they do not have a public banking system.
yes we should convert to Islam the only truth /SARC
< Hard landing
< Fiery crash
http://meteorcrater.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/meteor_no_sunset1100x...
TheFourthStooge-ing
To their detriment.
Sorry, but that is wrong.
To detriment of others.
To their debtriment.
LOL!
That too, I am afraid.
I just can't think of everything.
But starting in 2008, China sought to counter global recession with huge amounts of ill-advised investment in redundant industrial capacity and vanity infrastructure projects—you know, airports with no commercial flights, highways to nowhere, and stadiums with no teams. The country is now submerged by the tsunami of bad debt that begets further unhealthy credit growth to service this debt.
OK let's put this myth to bed right now. Debt lets nations acquire assets from foreigners, and even from themselves, and build infrastructure; debt bubbles contribute mightily to asset accumulation. So after the crash, the assets get repriced, but they are still owned "in country". We bought lots of shit on credit from China, for example, and after we renege on the loans that China made to us, by paying them with crap fiat, we will still have the shit we bought, won't we? We'll pay back ourselves and our foreign creditors alike with crap fiat confetti, and China will pay themselves off similarly, but the Chinese will still have their cities, however empty they might be, (and all the factories and infrastructure-building machinery, plants and equipment, by the way) and we'll still have our houses full of useless consumerist Chinese junk.
Who will be better off?
it is all depreciating consumer goods even the infrastructure which gets outdated due to better technology, changing commodity prices, etc.
only people who benefit are the ones with no loyalty. money in swiss bank accounts allows you move around depending on your needs.
also when both countries go to shit wars, at least americans had fun while chinese slaved away.
Those giant cities which are unoccupied will rot if no one gives them upkeep. They will be worthless ghost towns in a few years.
You mean all this time it was the wok calling the Weber black?
The swiss are not as discreet with their clients deposits as they once were. They've been folding to international pressure and delivering info on tax evaders in spades to other nations
You, sir, have obvisously never lived in a Chinese house. Or worked in a Chinese factory. The biggest problem is that building 'code' is rarely adhered to to start with. Upkeep is almost non-existant. Since water is 'clean', it's used to clean everything. The same bucket to clean the urinal, the sink and your computer screen. In that order. One of the biggest problems foreign companies have here is that their factories are built 'good enough for China' and not up to their international manufacturing and safety standards.
The building I live in is about 5 years old. From the way things are crumbling, you would think it was closer to 30 years old. Those cities that they will still have are manufactured just about as well as the useless Chinese junk we will be stuck with.
Yup. If it is made in China, it is $hit. I can't believe how bad some of power tools and other equipment that is made in terms of durability and failure rate. Getting harder and harder to find stuff though that isn't built in China. Either have to buy it directly from a specialty manufacturer or buy an older second-hand piece of equipment built in the US.
Quality is so low of any product I buy that I am convinced there is an actual attempt to make shoddy merchandise. Microsoft's charm bar is just one example. How the hell is a person supposed to navigate a page when the charm bar and tool bar appear, obstructing access to the right side of the page? And Fox fire crashes within 1 hour of installation. IE is useless as well. I do not know what these people think we use the fucking computer for, games? Some of us WORK ON IT and need to TYPE and READ. Such bullshit sucks up an enormous amount of time and the frustration level is off the charts after a few hours of this nonsense. Someone tell me why Bill Gates is so fucking rich again? Coffee makers burn out in under a year. I dread any of my 15 yr old major appliances needing replaced as I would be forced to buy the newer, inferior models for more money.
coffee makers - went thru 6 of them in less then 10 years..... its more practical and economical to build my own and never buy another
i have an italian stove top espresso maker
lasts forever
I concur.
http://www.espressoplanet.com/images/moka%20express.jpg
You are correct. Many consumer product are designed to fail. My son is a materials engineer, and told me how they design and mix plastics to perform to any criteria you want. They can make them pretty much unbreakable and lifelong lasting, but they design them to become brittle after a certain time period, usually just beyond the guarantee period. The piece of plastic then becomes brittle and fails and you need to buy a new Item. So a coffee maker may have lots of stainless steel but there will be a small plastic switch in it that will become brittle and fail - they also design them to be unrepairable so you cant get the glue out. Likewise TVs have brittle switches that will fail. Plastic doesnt have to be weak - it is only if its designed to be!
i don't have a problem finding things not made in china
i go out of my way to buy things from
France, Italy and Germany, etc.
i don't give a shit if i have to pay more
it's worth it..
To my surprise, I found recently that we still make stuff here in Britain, too.
yes there are these shoes made in Britain that i want to get
(Got a catalog the other day in the mail featuring shoes from Britain)
they are called hotter shoes
here is a link :
http://www.hotter.com/us/en/info/AboutUs
anyway as i was saying there are lots of places to buy from other then china...
seriously.
I beg to disagree with this statement. First of all it appears there are several tiers in China made quality - lower, medium and high grade. I assume you would be referring to the first two, but there are indeed very high quality products coming out of China too, - of course they cost more, but they are there. Blanket statements like "anything made in China is crap" are not really accurate. And the second point is that often times people are buying branded US/German/UK etc. products that are made in China and overpaying for them quite a bit even though they can buy essentially THE SAME non-branded product directly from China... those products are made exactly from the same materials and by the same people... but many people are just not aware of that.
I disagree about the Chinese being able to produce high grade goods, they just can't. Even if factory A tried it would most likely be let down by its suppliers. Everything Chinese is substandard.
I do, however, agree that a lot of "Western" produced goods are just Chinese junk with a minute bit of assembly that allows it to be legal sold as "Made in Germany/UK/USA" and marked up accordingly.
Well, I guess we need to agree to disagree on that Chinese ability to produce high grade stuff. I've owned Chinese made products that are of very high quality, in no way inferior to the Western made products, - these, however, probably make less than 5% of their total output... On the other hand, I've also owned quite a few Western made products that have been crap... so it's not all absolutes, I think it's a mistake to use blanket statements on anything, there are always exceptions. But the mark-ups on some "Western" made stuff is just ridiculous... people need to do their research before spending money.
All that being said there's no question that most Chinese made stuff is junk and Western made products are of much higher quality. The only problem here is that it's becoming increasingly difficult to determine where the parts are being sourced from and who the actual suppliers are... the fucking globalization has ruined the identity of manufacturers, it's the same crap everywhere.
Chinese capacitors destroyed billions of electronic devices from LCD's to computers, musical devices, etc.
One tiny little component made very crappily destroyed billions of dollars of goods.
I have never owned a decent product that was made in China. I have taken to buying second hand american made power tools, because despite being 20 years old, they still work well. I can't say that anything I have bought from China has lasted more than 5 years.
My apppliances I will rebuild as they fail rather than buy Chinese junk. Most of the improvements in the last 20 years are gimmicks like lcd screens and digital timers, shit that breaks and disables the device. Ain't worth the headache to nurse a pretty toy,
Serious questions here...
SWRichmond, how does the BRICS pact play in to this? I mean, is this really only about the US, and China?
I'd rather dispose of a broken Chinese toaster than a malfunctioning nuclear plant or crumbling high rise. I doubt their cities are built to any higher standard than the crap they export which means it'll last a tenth of the time you'd expect.
UK construction firms are now refusing to accept Chinese steel on site because of the regularity in which it fails: Major contractors refuse to use Chinese rebar
I resent buying Chinese crap because I know in 6 months time I'll be wasting more of my time buying it again.
we will still have the shit we bought, won't we?
Not necessarily, when the hopium bubble bursts, people trash everything.
When the going gets tough, the tough turn on each other. The Chinese are tough.
Is she not really talking about the USSA ?
How is Obola's Amerika any different or any less corrupt? The GOP-e will do nothing to stop him or the Dems or improve anything.
Finally! I'm regularly in China for work and I completely agree with this lady. The Chinese are corrupt fraudulent bastards with an absolute disregard for other human life and the environment, and I strongly disagree with all the goldbugs here who think that China will be the panacea for declining gold prices. If the western TBTF banks are corrupt and fraudulent, then the Chinese probably wrote the manual on how to achieve that dubious status.
China will introduce a Gold standard and "honest" money? Hahaha, the Chinese will jump at ANY opportunity to fake something, whether it's DVD's, Louis Vuitton bags, Rolexes, fake gold bullion bars or fiat currency. It makes no difference to them, as long as they can make a quick buck and screw everybody else.
The Chinese only copy paste the corrupt and fraudulent western economic and political models, perhaps only fine tuning those systems under their communist totalitarian rule in order to suit their purposes.
Dream on folks, the Chinese will be the worst combination of George Orwell and Maynard Keynes, and yet people pin their hopes on China pushing up gold prices: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-09/7-questions-gold-bears-havent-a...
"The BLS should take lessons from the Chinese government in data falsification."
LOL!!! The Chinese probably LEARNED it from the BLS!!!
Too funny.......wait until they pull the plug on the ponzi...and they will......blowback over hear will be deafening
Ya, it will happen sooner or later, but the STAWK market will go parabolic probably. The sad thing is, the BLS lying is just the tip of the iceberg. Our WHOLE FUCKING GOVERNMENT IS FULL OF LIARS!!
Remember, when things get bad, we lie.
With money from nothing it is going parabolic in what exactly?
Unicorns and skittles? Or US$$$. A million Zimbabwe dollars doesn't buy you much does it. Sometimes the past predicts the future.
WalMart China inflates earnings with jicky accounting fraud
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-10/wal-mart-report-found-profit-bo...
?
+1
although i have to say at least chinese people arent completely fucking delusional about their government and how it operates. america is equally as corrupt and murderous, if not more so since we kill hundreds of thousands of people around the world every decade or so. yet americans still believe we live in the land of the free. to quote RATM: "the land of the free? whoever told you that is your enemy"
"yet americans still believe we live in the land of the free"
And Obama said he outlawed torture, yet he still drones the shit out of people. I guess its not torture if you just outright kill someone---and its usually a lot of collateral damage that occurs as well, on completely innocent people---they get tortured to death in an instant.
right on !!!!!
Nobel peace prize winning lying cocksucker,is an apt description of our fearless leader.
We burrshitted some forks.
As bad as Americans think things are here, China is much worse than the US. The lies are bigger, the corruption is deeper and more systemic, and they are pure evil in human form. It's all relative, you see.
My Chinese friends know what is going on with their economy and their government. They have no delusions about it. They actually keep up with such stuff. And yet, they see freedoms their parents never had. I don't think American children can make the same statement. Two trains heading in opposite directions.
ETA: And what's the deal about Japan and slave labor? Are you insinuating Japan's post-war economic rise was done with slave labor? Are you rewriting history?
Good for you. If we don't buy US outsourced shit from your nick of the woods, you get laid off. Welcome to Globalization. I have no needs to buy Zionist shit sparkled under Christmas gifts, take down the Christmas tree in the mall.. its offensive. Political Media directive to instill Happy Holiday’s. FUCK THEM. Sit on your mislays by not calling it a shopping holocaust.
My best Christmas is that my wife & I are healthy and alive. If you want me to send a gift.. I’ll send Obama a boxer turd in the mail.. Kidding.
PS, we know based on feedback from China..
"If we don't buy US outsourced shit from your nick of the woods, you get laid off."
And so will millions of American retail workers. The Chinese workers will go back to their farms and survive. Where will the American workers go?
Read Wild E Coyote's comment (5534890)
The previous ZH aticle discussing that nearly 50% of wealthier Chinese want to move out of their country is an indication of what's happening there. Every Chinese person I work with has a relative who wants to send their kids to school here in the USA [or next best, NZ, Australia or Canada].
So China's 1% are mobile and want the best for their children. So are the Western bankers who live in secluded, gated communities and buy their children the best educations possible. It is an indication of nothing about the macro-economy. Those without the economic resources to do likewise have to turn to their culture for survival. The Chinese have a good culture and the grandparents of today's children remember what real survival was like under Mao. They will survive this and come away stronger. America has no such culture to fall back on any more.
But America has plenty of demagogues and mysticism. I noticed the other day two shop malls became churches.
So, we will be fine……… I mean, in a lower level, and kind of rough and delusional…., but…. It’s what it’s.
It is more about a 'bug out' plan than anything. Yeah they want what is best for their kid but they also want it as a want to move money abroad too in a bit of an easier fashion especially to purchase hard assets in the US especially land/buildings with secure property rights.
To be sure. But leaving China has always been open to the wealthy. They have to pay. Very similar to what the US is doing. And note the increasing number of Americans "bugging out" these days.
American workers are the slaves who razzle retail advertisement to sell shit products on a narrow window of opportunity. Merry Christmas and wish your family a Happy New Year.
Okay. And that is the fault of the Chinese how?
I would have to disagree with you that the Chinese people know what is going on. From those that I have talked with, it's like talking to someone that only gets their news from the Glenn Beck show, and take his word for gospel and takes no other inforation into consideration. No one I have talked to here seems to realize the bad debt building up. The slowing economy. The fact that their government executes more people per year than the next 5 worst offenders combined.
And I would classify this as more two trains starting at opposite sides of the track, heading towards each other. The US started as free market capitalist where current China started at total communism. They are both headed somewhere in the middle as totalitariian cronyism. Some freedom, but heavily restrited by the state with the real economic winners being those on the inside.
Perhaps we know a different class or generation of people. Most of my contacts are 25-35 and employed.
so are mine. but perhaps of a higher echelon (see more politically connected)... or just in a higher class where they choose not to see everything. They did get hired into special schools and have a job more or less for life because the company owns them.
I'm amused by the irony of paying more for a condo on the higher levels -- just to enjoy "the view".
Of course, the height premium is now for the "fresh air", right?
Hey you, get off of my cloud!
Smog looks much better on the 99th floor than it does at street level.
the smog is kind of pretty.... soft, fluffy .... like a natural cloud kind of
Japan's pre war economic rise was done with Chinese slave labor. a fact most japanese don't know.
china and korea hate japan, japan tried to conquer both.
some see japan's fate as karma.
That picture reminds me of the world in the movie "Blade Runner".
"He say you Braid Wunner."
the fifth element looked like that too
Where's my goddamned flying car?!
& oh, by the way, I want the COAL FIRED CHEVY VOLT version so I can save the polar bears while I'm zipping around town.
SAY WHAT?
imply the eletric used for car comes from coal fired plant...
Krugman is still waiting for alien invasion. EO isn't signed because Obama goes to jail and loses all Presidental power.
These two are like watching a dog lick his balls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhMAV9VLvHA
The GOP are coward scum who are helping Obama and the Democrats every step of the way.
Seriously - how the f**k does he go to jail? I am all for it.
Morlocks in the basements, ghosts in the above floors. Winning!
It's OK, as long as you turn all of them sideways.
We got Gremlins in the White (or is it Black) House!
One day in the future people will marvel at the Pyramids of Bullshit that we have now much in the same way we stand in awe at how the ancients built the Pyramids of Egypt.
There will be tours of the Fed where tourists can view Krugman the first all wrapped up in fiat.
I'm picturing the first death by US Dollars. Stuff them down his throat until he stops breathing.
Maybe, but they will be building their own pyramids of doom. Humans never change, never learn, but will remember every perceived injustice till the end of time.
Bankers the worst vermin that ever lived. Yes the Chinese learned from the FED and they are using that ability to take over the world. The FED personnel should be arrested for treason. They will get their due.because there are so many fewer of them than the Chinese. Expect a lot of retaliation against the Chinese as the FED tries to rein in the monster that it has unleashed.
I went to Shenzen in 2011. Prices of good and humans were very low. Smog everywhere. From my friend apartment I could not see the high rise in front of his high rise. Actually in my three days stay, I never saw the sun. An horrible place packed with people and concrete. People, concrete and smog everywhere.
China (and Obala Amerika) reminds me a bit of George Lucas THX 1138 with more people and all the smog. Arguably the best thing Lucas ever did.
I think everyone has forgotten that Chinese economy is largely run by western banks.
As Chinese President have reminded several times, the party with the business and the associated debt are mostly western corporations. The profits of western corporations are taxed by China Government but are dutifully used to buy US financial instruments. The nett profits are all held by western corporations.
However, the western corporations arranged huge loans for their Chinese local partners to build factories and equipment, most of which were supplied by other western corporations too.
Just as it happened in 1998 withitn ASEAN, the western corporations are trying to shift the bad debts of their local (chinese) business partners to the Chinese Government. But China Government have stated and also demonstrated that they will not bail ot their local companies going bankrupt. They are also not worried about Chinese working in factories either. China Government have always requested its people to go back to their villages.
Thus the article will be more clearly understood if we read it with this background. There is nothing new.
Even the huge unoccupied properties and ghost towns are funded by western Banks. One would be correct to assume that the Chinese are waiting for the collapse of the western financial system then to confiscate the properties. For now, they would not even sell it to their own rich. We cannot underestimate the cunningness of 5000 year old civilization.
"One would be correct to assume that the Chinese are waiting for the collapse of the western financial system then to confiscate the properties. For now, they would not even sell it to their own rich."
They are busy buying up the useful land in other countries, such as Australia. And it seems our banks are helping them do it. It might be worth Tylers' time looking into what is happening in Australia with regards to farmland fire sales.
http://pickeringpost.com/story/bastard-banks/4237
And for a more in-depth look at the recent Aus-China FTA than you will find in Aus msm, see the following:
http://youtu.be/XKWQRG6VkAU?t=47m9s
Australia is a giant Hong Kong, its western in many ways and basically a laundry/depository for Chinese wealth but increasingly populated by Chinese nationals. New apartment buildings in Sydney and Melbourne sell in weeks off-plan while the underlying economy gets weaker and weaker. Mines are being mothballed, factories closing and retail food outlets going into admin but the apartments fly off the shelves.
I'm sure if Australia ever tries to compulsory purchase or seize the assets back China will feel justified in launching a Putin-style "defence of their citizens" attack.
http://wtfrly.com/2014/12/09/dead-banker-37-london-banker-impaled-after-...
Please forgive the re-post from about a week ago, but I thought it would go well with this article. The "Chinese Miracle", including that POS Jack Ma, is the biggest fraud in the history of planet earth. And, THAT is saying something!!!
Alibaba Massive Fraud
Unrelated, but I believe highly important none the less. We have some smart people on ZH and curious if anyone else has heard or read about this. I am hoping someone that has the time and resources can look in to this and do some homework.
I was listening to The John Batchelor Show one night about a week or so again. He is on the radio and can be found online. Incredibly well versed on many international topics and world history. I highly recommend you tune in to him when you have a chance.
In any event, he had three guests (from China) on and the discussion was surrounding a massive fraud at Alibaba. The story goes something like this. Alibaba is a marketplace and they collect a fee on each purchase from merchandisers that operate via their website. Alibaba understands net profits and margins are of little concern to Wall Street, but growth in revenues and now we are talking. Many multiples for "growth" in a global economy that is barely creeping along. So, Alibaba hires a network of thousands to simply buy and return products all day. If Alibaba held inventory this fraud would be somewhat more difficult to pull off, but with thousands of businesses connected to Alibaba it is very easy to hide the costs of labor and returns in underlying (most likely very closely held) companies. Afterall, billions of $'s in stock price appreciation will pay a lot of people to sit on a computer all day and buy and return stuff on their website.
This is massive securities fraud and according to the guests, the scheme is "well known" in China. Besides the financial statement fraud, one would have to wonder what type of due diligence was done by the investment bankers that brought Alibaba to market?
I don't know about you, but I think this could be a watershed Enron-like, Madoff-like story.
I really like John Batchelor. His show is always interesting and he comes off as pretty libertarian. Almost all radio is total shit now. Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck do all powderpuff crap for the last 4 years. Total joke. Savage is better but a NeoCon.
John Batchelor's show is always interesting almost riveting at times. He is easily the brightest radio talk show host around.
Thanks for the tip. +100
wow, you're an idiot. i could easily go into details and point by point explain why and how you are an idiot, but I'm not going to waste my time arguing with an idiot.
What a dumbfuck.
"The entire [Chinese] edifice is built upon a Himalayan mountain of bad debt."
Oh dear! Why the hell did they follow the Western ponzi model?
because it's an excellent, time tested method of stealing wealth from your population without them understanding how badly theyre getting fucked.
<= Chinese Economic Data
<= USA Economic Data
(Which is more fraudulent?)
which is heavier, one kilo or 1000 grams?
Ah, one Kiro!
"which is heavier, one kilo or 1000 grams?"
Depends, is it potatoes or crack?
>>>>>China is still an evil communist nation that disregards human rights, murders its citizens, crushes dissent, and suppresses free speech. Other than that, they are a great bunch of guys.
Unlike their mentor the USSA.
Weak argument, tell us what is really on your mind..
Even the ad clicks are a lie.
Don't tell Zuckerberg's investors that. LOL
And the avg. Chinese savings rate is?????? = alot higher than everyone elses.
What conversion ratio are you using, USD or SDR?
By the looks of all the "Made in China" crap cluttering the shelfs at all the Walmarts, I'd say the Chinks have the manufacturing thing down to a fine science..... what to the Chinks do when they get paid in fiat for their Walmart work? - they exchange it for 999 pure Gold Bullion.
Ni Hao |A Gold Farmers Story
Oldies ..
hey bruce lee would kick your ass for saying chinks...
china may suck for manufacturing
but they rule for kung fu
i love china for its kung fu
And Bruce Ree built his empire in Seattle.
Can still see his crib up there on the hill....
Stop your brainwasing bullshit. IMHO, It's still much better than wasting trillions on killing millions people around the world to enrich the elite, isn't it?
We are actually choking them off, you just don't see it yet. Time will reveal..
USA, Japan, and now China.
What a toxic mix.
One of them goes under the rest ,and the rest of us, are well and truly goosed.
Like the chaingang manacled together, all depending on the weakest to keep going. Welcome to the new paradigm.
SUM TING WONG
WI TOO HIGH
What a shame the owner of my favorite Chinese place here got busted for punching his wife in the head in front of customers.
Sitting in China now:
1. Never seen so many cranes in my life even in middle of nowhere cities.
2. Never seen so mnay cranes doing NOTHING, just sitting there. Construction seems to have stopped at a huge number of sites.
3. Apartment buildings seem to grow in bunches of 25 or 30 (not one at a time). Start with open field in the middle of nowhere, plant 25 30 story blocks and presto ... new ghost city ... if the buildings ever get finished.
4. Never seen so many high end cars in my life, and they cost double what they would at home.
5. Infrastructure is gleaming ... but don't scratch the surface.
6. Restaurants, hotels, services all massively overstaffed.
7. Corruption crackdown IS having an impact for certain, but is it enough?
8. Never thought I would miss google so much. Pain in the ass is this Great Firewall of China. It really is so bloody stupid and inefficient.
This will all blow up eventually - guaranteed - but it is a mugs game to pick the date.
Counted 55 cranes on my way to city center. Also starting to see a halt to some projects. Maybe they are waiting for materials? This is also the land of the 1 1/4 inch step. How can you miss getting the stairway to match the floor? I have caught my toe so many times.....grrrrrrr.
dood, get a vpn