Re:China's Ghost Cities and Malls
by ultrasaurus on Wednesday March 30, 2011 @12:01PM
(#2387830)
My understanding is that there's no property tax in China [1] which makes holding empty property a lot more attractive than it is here.
[1] I lived in China for years, but I learnt that here: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2010/06/china-eyes-propert...
Serious question: how do I buy a Chinese credit default swap?
I don't believe it is possible. I've considered alternate ways of leveraging this. Right now the Australian dollar is supposedly propped up high by selling commodities to China: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/128654/20110330/australian-d... That seems one way for a non-Chinese investor to put chips on that number.
Geez investing is so cynical. :/
Anybody know what Michael Burry's up to these days?
Re:China's Ghost Cities and Malls
by jacques_chester on Wednesday March 30, 2011 @08:17PM
(#2389850)
You could also short our two big mining companies, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
But most of China's raw materials importing is driven by their huge expert market, how would a collapse of domestic spending affect that? Isn't it everyone else that's buying Chinese goods that's driving the demand for resources?
Re:China's Ghost Cities and Malls
by jacques_chester on Thursday March 31, 2011 @06:26PM
(#2394002)
China already has a large and fast-growing domestic market.
Insofar as they want to build apartment blocks and manufacture cars for Chinese consumers, the Chinese need steel. For that they need iron ore, and for iron ore Australia and Brazil are the main sources.
One of my friends is a real estate agent. She told me recently that she and a friend had purchased a condo.
Me: Oh, so you're going to move in there soon?
Her: No, no.
Me: Oh, you're renting it out to tenants?
Her: No, no. If someone lives in it, then the value goes down. So we're going to keep it empty and then sell it next year or in a couple of years.
This cannot end well.