11–20 of 320 posts
I know there are enormous profits to be made in China, but I wonder if American investors ever think to themselves ... by investing in this place I am strengthening a regime that ultimately is the enemy of my values.
* Chinese GDP shrinks to 0.4% in Q2 2022. Which is still suspicious because Shanghai economic activities declined -40%, and real estate overall activities dropped -30%
* Massive mortgage boycott. Also public protests against lost deposits and unable to access bank is being aired out in Chinese social media. Also property bond crash spreading
* The 1 billion people data leak has some experts analyzing the data and figuring that the Chinese population is already in decline, and only at 1.2B currently. Which means the population is going to half its size sooner than 2100
* Chinese firms are still selling Russia good its military needs https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-firms-are-selling-russi..., incurring the wraths of normal folks in Europe and other allied countries.
* Zero covid practice still going on, with tons of public discontent. There are videos of the people waiting in line to test in the pouring rain and huge wind!
* Zeihan gaining more popularity, which implies that people do believe that China is crashing. Foreign investors and companies are pulling out in record numbers
* public sector employees taking 30% salary cuts
Makes me think there will be a massive public unrest and Chinese government will likely collapse soon. What do people think?
I know there are enormous profits to be made in China, but I wonder if American investors ever think to themselves ... by investing in this place I am strengthening a regime that ultimately is the enemy of my values.
China is not at all incompatible with those values. And even if it were, that wouldn't be an issue - business interests on the whole have consistently been a strong ally of fascism and authoritarianism.
https://archive.ph/6fC1Q
[1] https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3185326/c...
I don't want to talk about China, I want to talk about Russia.
Can Russia become the next technological powerhouse? Of course not.
Because the ceiling of Russian intelligence or wisdom is Putin. There is no one in Russia who can claim to be more intelligent than Putin. Russia can do without anyone, but not without Putin. Although we do not know whether Putin has any relevant qualifications or experience in the industry, all Russian businesses and professions depend on Putin's guidance and must hold up Putin's ideas and banners, otherwise they will not be able to move forward. Putin is the ceiling of Russia. How can a country with a ceiling become a technological powerhouse?
Look at the United States. Who dares to direct the work of Musk, whether Trump or Biden? Who dares to direct the business strategies of Apple and Google? I find that in the US, it seems that anyone can say they are smarter than the president, it seems that anyone can say they are smarter than the president. The technology companies in the US seem to be able to run smoothly without the guidance of Biden's ideas, and they seem to be able to develop technology without raising the banner of Biden's ideas, and they seem to be doing quite well. I find that the US is a country that has no ceiling in terms of intelligence or ingenuity, and that is always improving. Only such a country can become a technological powerhouse.
They can’t block GitHub because a lot of chinese tech firms depend on it. That is something very hard to develop locally because the entire world can contribute
Let's assume, there is no censorship and anyone can join the boycott. What is the intended successful outcome of the boycott? If noone would do anything (no boycott), some customers would have to pay mortgage for apartments that won't be finished ever. With boycott, the blast radius will be bigger, possibly affecting the banking system. What options do authorities have?
People who boycott mortgages get their properties confiscated by court eventually, and if any developments suffer issues government should aid developers to ensure any paid customers get their property done.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
China is not at all incompatible with those values. And even if it were, that wouldn't be an issue - business interests on the whole have consistently been a strong ally of fascism and authoritarianism.
The current Chinese government certainly is.
Likewise, business as a whole in the US (and elsewhere) has no issue supporting the more authoritarian and repressive of the two political parties. They prefer it, in fact, because of what it does for them in limiting worker and consumer rights. When you're in the upper class of society, most of the repressive rules don't personally apply to you.
> Nomura said the refusal to pay mortgages stems from the widespread practice in China of selling homes before they’re built. Funds from presales are kept in escrow accounts to use for construction. But confidence that projects will be completed has weakened as developers’ cash woes intensified.
> “Inappropriate usage of presale proceeds and the lack of adequate supervision of escrow accounts by local regulators and banks are likely associated with these mortgage suspension cases,” Zerlina Zeng, a senior analyst at CreditSights, wrote in a note.
Let's assume, there is no censorship and anyone can join the boycott. What is the intended successful outcome of the boycott? If noone would do anything (no boycott), some customers would have to pay mortgage for apartments that won't be finished ever. With boycott, the blast radius will be bigger, possibly affecting the banking system. What options do authorities have?