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    ManchuCandidateHamilton Nolan
    10/22/13 3:44pm
    GIF

    The economic magnitude of this bubble going "Pop Pop" is going to be huge.

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      Beer, Titties and Left TurnsHamilton Nolan
      10/22/13 3:27pm

      I guess everyone in China is trying to live in the cities, because there was that Vice documentary about all the completely empty high rise mega-developments that China was building out in bumble fuck, and well, long story short, they're almost completely vacant. Although the documentary did seem to hint that the Chinese government was behind these developments as a way of gaming their GDP figure.

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        ManchuCandidateHamilton Nolan
        10/22/13 3:34pm

        Considering that many of the people involved in the bubble are friends/family of senior communist party officials then it will be interesting... as in "may you live in interesting times" interesting.

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          Johnny ChundersHamilton Nolan
          10/22/13 3:26pm

          I see. And what about the "pop-o-matic bubble" bubble? Could be Trouble...

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            StraelboraHamilton Nolan
            10/22/13 3:50pm

            The article left out some details. I'm not an expert in the field, but just helped my mother-in-law from China sell some apartments. Because the Chinese government artifically props up its currency and limits the legal amount of foreign currency citizens can buy, people have been buying real estate/apartments as an investment. A weird sub-issue is that real estate purchases are only valid for, I think, 70 years. So instead of having a 401k, Chinese middle class people buy real estate, inflating the real estate bubble.

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              bbberlinStraelbora
              10/22/13 4:23pm

              This.

              Also China doesn't have alot of other mature ventures for investment... plus also property is viewed as a more stable investment than stocks or bonds, especially when the corruption within the economic system is so well known.

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              ChiHigh31Straelbora
              10/22/13 5:19pm

              Yeah I saw this on 60 minutes a month or two ago. Scared the shit out of me.

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            The Other TheronHamilton Nolan
            10/22/13 3:34pm

            This chart was published in the New York time in 2006. And yet the whiz kids on Wall St. have claimed over and over "no one could have predicted." Tell me again how they deserve the big pay. (Sorry about the small print. It shows inflation adjusted U.S. housing values from 1890 to 2006.)

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              The Other TheronThe Other Theron
              10/22/13 3:35pm

              Redacted

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            Velveeta®Hamilton Nolan
            10/22/13 3:33pm

            This is like GUESS HOW MANY JELLY BEANS ARE IN THE JAR? So GUESS HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE IN THIS PICTURE.

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              DunnoboutthatVelveeta®
              10/22/13 3:46pm

              You just made my brain hurt.

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            Shanghai888Hamilton Nolan
            10/23/13 5:20am

            I'm in a second tier city outside Shanghai at this moment. I rent a luxury apartment for about what a skilled migrant worker makes in one month in this city (rmb3000/month for 100m2 fully furnished to a decent standard). I can see the downtown core from one of my two balconies, it's about 500 meters away. I live in a decent complex that I would consider likely the most convenient and lifestyle oriented in the city. These apartments are currently valued at about rmb12'000/m2. The neighbors I have that occupy apartments are middle class, but not considered rich. There are about 10 other buildings I can see as part of the same complex from my balcony. On any given Sunday night around 6pm I would say not more than 30% of the apartments are occupied. That is a conservative estimate, it is likely lower. This is consistent with virtually all new buildings in this city built in the last 5 years. It's incredible to think of. There is limitless construction around the farmers fields surrounding the city and most of my Chinese friends are still buying second and third apartments. I never talk about the bubble with anyone.

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              Kirk BlackHamilton Nolan
              10/22/13 4:23pm

              I have been saying the Chinese Real estate bubble is going to be the tipping point of the next recession for the last two years... Here it comes people

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                Li'l BiscuitHamilton Nolan
                10/22/13 3:59pm

                But China is still chock-full of Ghost Cities
                Just like many of the luxury buildings in NYC bought out by wealthy investors, they might be sold, but no one is living there.

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