Empty Cities in China

[CosmicCowboy]

Anyone else see the 60 minutes special? It was freaky.

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/03/05/china-empty-cities-photos/#!slide=5686006

[Th'Pusher]

Missed he 60 minutes piece, but they covered this a few weeks ago on Vice. China is fucked and unfuckable. Too bad our economies are completely codependent.

[CosmicCowboy]

That's right...I saw it on Vice. I wonder what effect this massive overbuilding will have on future commodity prices?

[boutons_deux]

Also, empty rivers

"China’s First National Census of Water discovered they’d lost more than 28,000 rivers compared to just 20 years ago".

http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/05/stressed-ecosystems-leaving-humanity-high-and-dry/?utm_source=feedly

[baseline bum]

Thought I saw this a couple of years ago on 60 Minutes, but maybe it was a different source. Crazy shit indeed.

[CosmicCowboy]

The real strange thing is they are untouched. If they were in the US they would have already had all the copper gutted out of them along with anything else worth stealing.

[baseline bum]

The real strange thing is they are untouched. If they were in the US they would have already had all the copper gutted out of them along with anything else worth stealing.

You'll get thrown in front of a firing squad by the communists for a lot less than that tbh.

[CosmicCowboy]

They get some things right.

[baseline bum]

They get some things right.

But it's not because you stole; it's because you stole from them.

[boutons_deux]

They get some things right.

CC, typical richie conservative. Kill somebody for property crime.

[coyotes_geek]

Thought I saw this a couple of years ago on 60 Minutes, but maybe it was a different source. Crazy shit indeed.

I remember hearing/reading about this a while back as well.

[CosmicCowboy]

CC, typical richie conservative. Kill somebody for property crime.

It's a pretty clear illustration that punishment is a deterrent to crime.

[baseline bum]

It's a pretty clear illustration that punishment is a deterrent to crime.

It's more a fear of the government since you can get killed for doing anything against them.

[CosmicCowboy]

Trust me, I don't want to live there. Just sayin that punishment is clearly a deterrent to crime.

[The Reckoning]

lol china. lol not factoring in environmental impact in economy.

:lol

[RandomGuy]

Anyone else see the 60 minutes special? It was freaky.

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/03/05/china-empty-cities-photos/#!slide=5686006

See the 2011 thread I keep a subscription to:

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182051

rare kudos to Darrin:


Keynesian economics on steroids

rPILhiTJv7E


I would note that in that thread I gave it a couple of years onthe outside before they started to get dragged down. They are working hard to keep their growth up, but the state owned enterprises are really really slowing them down.

You might like this as well.
http://www.npr.org/2013/05/29/187009382/chinas-leaders-promise-to-speed-up-economic-growth

[RandomGuy]

I remember hearing/reading about this a while back as well.

You're welcome. :D

[RandomGuy]

That's right...I saw it on Vice. I wonder what effect this massive overbuilding will have on future commodity prices?

They have started to really depress the price of steel, since they make so much of it, and all the state owned enterprises are still building capacity, even though they are losing money on each ton. Obviously unsustainable.

They will add more capacity, and the entire world will essentially get subsidized steel for as long as the Chinese government can or wants to afford it.

[coyotes_geek]

You're welcome. :D

:toast

Interesting topic. Pretty whack. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.

[CosmicCowboy]

They have started to really depress the price of steel, since they make so much of it, and all the state owned enterprises are still building capacity, even though they are losing money on each ton. Obviously unsustainable.

They will add more capacity, and the entire world will essentially get subsidized steel for as long as the Chinese government can or wants to afford it.

I know steel scrap is still sky high. Just had my dumpster at the shop pulled last week and got over $900 for it.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

I remember when I saw it on vice I had to rewind it when they said construction was 50% of China's GDP cause I thought there was no way I heard it right the first time. I have no idea how their real estate bubble hasn't popped already when they have empty ghost towns that should be driving prices down.

This is also why the Chinese aren't any kind of threat economically. Their economy is unsustainable but we should be worried about the massive damage they're doing environmentally with pollution and fucking up the ecosystem.

[RandomGuy]

I remember when I saw it on vice I had to rewind it when they said construction was 50% of China's GDP cause I thought there was no way I heard it right the first time. I have no idea how their real estate bubble hasn't popped already when they have empty ghost towns that should be driving prices down.

This is also why the Chinese aren't any kind of threat economically. Their economy is unsustainable but we should be worried about the massive damage they're doing environmentally with pollution and fucking up the ecosystem.

Why?

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182051&page=3&p=6611491&viewfull=1#post6611491

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Why?

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182051&page=3&p=6611491&viewfull=1#post6611491

At one point China had enough active construction sites to give every single person in China 5'x5' space. That's not sensible construction that's merely meeting demand, that's a bubble of heaping proportions.

If China wasn't keeping up with demand they wouldn't have newly constructed ghost towns and sky scrappers where construction was completely abandoned.

[Jacob1983]

I saw this on Vice too. Sad story. Sad to see poor Chinese basically being forced out of their homes and farms just so greedy bastards can build malls and condos that no one will use.

[The Reckoning]

lol china. lol not learning from the epic fail of US modernism in city planning. imo these cities will turn into "projects."

urban planning and city development should be treated as a natural process in response to supply/demand in residential and industrial search. chinese are 50 years behind on planning.

[symple19]

I'd like to get on-board with a Chinese development firm just so I can play a real version of Sim-City, because that's basically what this is... Sans people, of course :lol

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

I'd like to get on-board with a Chinese development firm just so I can play a real version of Sim-City, because that's basically what this is... Sans people, of course :lol

:lol real life sim city

I downloaded Sim City 2000 for like $6 the other day. Forgot how sick that game it.

[Rogue]

commies need this industry to drive up GDP so they've made all policies in favor of construction companies. what the seek is an instant growth of GDP, and instead of throwing light upon the whole issue, they would rather turn a blind eye to it. it's kinda similar to the Great Leap Forward movement in the 1960s tbh, they cannibalized any metallic thing they could find in the kitchen expecting to exceed UK and US in iron production, but only turned out to have made a fool of themselves at the end of day