12-14-2021, 01:02 PM
(12-14-2021, 09:37 AM)Scooterd Wrote:China is propping up a fragile economy where real estate means much more than their stock market where the common folk invest a fraction of what we do in the US. If I take off my red white and blue hat for a moment, we allowed similar foolishness that led to the GFC. Just last year the FED purchased junk bonds to my surprise, and Congress bailed out companies with grants to those that squandered all their cash buying back shares for the benefit of us investors. But we were OK with that. We've been buying bonds ever since. Our game is about as shaky as most of the world.(12-14-2021, 09:27 AM)ken-do-nim Wrote: My investment thesis is:
...... The picture of Beijing from 1990 vs. 2020 is astounding.
I recently caught a 60 minutes (I think it was 60 minutes) How China was propping up their Government, employment. developers etc.. and The impact - IE: Ghost Cities of China. The corruption was on a massive scale, touched all areas of Government, all the way down to the local level. Developers would build huge cities (facade) then sell to buyers, then abandon development projects leaving the buyers with no electricity or running water or any other amenities and sticking them with 30 year mortgages and zero recourse.
It was amazing how prevalent the pattern of payoffs, corruption and kickbacks were from the highest levels down to lowly the administrators that issued the building permits.