It’s China’s Turn To Play
The opinions expressed in this article are ahansen’s, and do not necessarily reflect those of the owner, administration, or readership of thehousingbubbleblog.com.
“Shadow Inventory” May Not Be So Shadowy After All….
I recently spoke with a dear friend in Singapore. An international arbiter by profession (or arr biter as he likes to call himself,) “Softhawk” is the go-to guy when somebody’s harbor leaks into someone else’s international trade center and each party wants someone else’s insurance companies to pay for repairs.
Over the last twenty years Softhawk has correctly predicted the unlikely ascendancy of then-governor G.W. Bush, (“Because he is God’s anointed on earth,”) the build-up and eventual bursting of what came to be known as the dot.com bubble, (“Do any of these people even know what dotcom means?”) the rise of Shanghai/Guangzhou as international centers of raucous, unbridled capitalism, (“They’re building like it was 1980.”) and the collapse of the Thai baat, (“I’m trying to corner the market on suitcases.”)
Let’s just say the man is connected.
So when he told me that in this last year Chinese investment has quietly shifted its US focus from Treasuries to REIT’s, I took notice. After all, China’s official sovereign wealth fund, CIC, just announced its intended purchase of 2B worth of US REITs via the Treasury’s Public-Private Investment Program, PPIP; (this within a few hours of the FED’s announcement that Treasury would no longer be buying back some 300B USD of its own bonds.)
(Note: the PPIP matches whatever a private investor puts up, then credits six times as much capital—with the FDIC guaranteeing the debt.)
And this is just the “official” investment. According to Softhawk, China has also been busily buying up huge swathes of Africa and Mexico in the last 18 months, and now controls a majority of the deep water ports along the western coast of North America– as well as both mouths of the Panama Canal.
Given all this investment out of de-monitized Treasuries, coupled with the severity of the American housing crash, perhaps not all that “shadow” housing inventory we’ve assumed the banks have “just sitting there” actually is just sitting there. What if a lot of those houses we thought the banks were “holding back” have already been bundled and sold to sovereign wealth funds? Or more likely, bundled, leveraged, and sold as US banks wholesale their losses to the Chinese. As unlikely as it seems, maybe when the NAR crows about an “uptick” in sales, (and at those maddeningly sticky price points,) for once they’re not lying? Apparently there actually are “ rich foreigners” out there. And some of those endless blocks of empty overgrown houses with no “For Sale” signs out front have been sold off to them in bulk. Cheap.
Japanese redux?
In the mid-to-late 1980’s one could drive down miles of Wilshire Blvd and marvel at the thousands of empty luxury condos and office buildings sitting vacant—sometimes for years– and wonder if “The Japanese” really did have enough money to just buy them as pieds- a- terre in case they happened to be in town or needed a place to stash a girlfriend. The silent towers all had tasteful offering signs with absurd asking prices, and no one was buying– yet new buildings kept going up.
Then Sony bought Columbia Pictures, and Toyota announced it was moving its manufacturing plants into the United States. At the very zenith of the commercial real estate bubble (or nadir, depending on where your money was stashed,) a Japanese consortium bought Pebble Beach Golf Club and golfers everywhere despaired—was nothing sacred? Were the Japanese fated to be everyone’s landlords?
For those of us renting (bitterly,) from the sidelines, it was good fun to watch American business interests’ xenophobia competing with their greed. Despite all the patriotic breast-beating and thinly-disguised racism, greed won out every time.
As it turned out, Pebble Beach was that bubble’s Last Hurrah. Things turned very sour very quickly and we all know what happened to the Japanese economy.
And now, apparently, it’s China’s turn to play. It makes sense, of course, for when the dollar officially devalues—as it ultimately must—instead of holding worthless paper, Chinese investors will at least be holding hard assets. Overpriced, certainly, and likely highly leveraged, but real estate nonetheless. Conversely, it would appear that the US has been quietly wholesaling its enormous losses to China. A win win for everyone except us worker bees on both sides of the Pacific, the ones who still have savings accounts.
Make money, not war.
It is notoriously difficult for Chinese nationals to purchase properties in the United States. The yuan is not easily converted to USD, (132B in a suitcase notwithstanding,) and unless one already has assets in the US, the State Department makes it very difficult to acquire any. (We all remember the brouhaha that resulted when China tried to buy Unocal.) But REITs, especially REITs subsidized by US savers, (then matched and leveraged 6x by Treasury and guaranteed by FDIC!) Well, apparently that is doable.
Consider also, that wealthy, politically-connected Chinese have been sending their children to American universities ever since Nixon officially reopened the two countries to trade in the early 1970’s. With the advent of rampant Chinese capitalism and the proliferation of Chinese-owned multi-nationals, a whole new generation of upwardly-mobile tycoons is seeking a hot new status symbol for their children… an American spouse.
Just as a generation of American heiresses was loosed upon an impoverished-but-titled Great Britain in the days of the Robber Barons, so now is a generation of young, mostly male Chinese from powerful families seeking landed (or landable,) American citizens to marry– and buy property with.
A case in point:
Ten years ago my blonde-haired, blue-eyed American niece, lacking appropriate employment after graduating from a venerable US university with a useless degree, expatriated and established herself as an English teacher and part-time television commentator in Jenin, PRC—where the jobs were. The number of well-bred, well-educated American kids who have taken this route may surprise you. It did me. ESL brokers now recruit on nearly all US college campuses, and they’re having a banner year.
Surrounded every day by smart, wealthy, and ambitious young “communists” all eager to learn English and make lots of money, she had a perfectly lovely time for several years, and eventually fell in love with and married the young son of the Agricultural Minister for a large southern province. (A State cabinet position similar to say, the California State Water Commissioner, this is the guy who gets executed if SARS takes hold in the province.)
Although the Minister lives (by our standards,) modestly in a State apartment, at the wedding banquet he and his wife gifted the newlyweds with not only matching gold watches, and a new car, but with a new home as well. In San Diego, CA. USA,–where the groom was set to pursue his MBA.
For “Ba’ba” it was an expedited way to get a half a million out of China and into a US investment. For his son, the sum provided a toehold in a new economy (relatively) free of the political oversight the US State Department would impose. For my niece, it was a dream come true–an adorable husband with international connections, and a nice house in San Diego close to the beach.
Now happily ensconced and not at all concerned with the fact that their home has lost 40% of its value, my niece, who speaks fluent Mandarin and not-bad Cantonese– as well as SD Homeboy Spanish– has combined her love of event planning (she used to put on raves in the CA foothills,) with her language skills, and with a further infusion of funds from Ba, has a thriving business bringing Chinese businessmen into Mexico City then facilitating their financial acquisitions there. Business, she says, is booming. Her husband will complete his MBA next year.
Next project on their agenda? A full-service real estate agency for Chinese investors interested in purchasing defunct US housing tracts and commercial buildings. I gave her the number of a commercial banker friend who has been desperate to unload toxic commercial properties in San Diego and San Bernardino Counties. Apparently they hit it right off.
This new American family is being duplicated all across the country by a generation of kids for whom international borders are essentially irrelevant, and fear of The Foreign a quaint joke.
So, before everyone starts freaking out about outsourcing and national identity– and Asian Hoardes turning the west coast into China’s Sudetenland– please try to keep in mind that with cultural melding comes a new cultural dynamic…and often a whole lot of money. Singapore for example, has in only forty years became an international investment center and economic powerhouse despite having a population about the size of Phoenix—and a hugely diverse one at that. Those who are concerned that an army of “excess” Chinese males may soon resort to mayhem and invade our Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises, have missed the point –they already have invaded –and married our wimmins.
Perhaps we may take comfort in the knowledge that in general, folks are far less likely to blow up their own investments –let alone their own relatives. Whether Chinese investments in American real estate blow up in their faces, however, remains to be seen.
ahansen
Well written ahansen!
Great article ahansen. Thanks for the information.
The Chinese have been buying significant RE in Houston over the past few years. Actually, pretty much since the end of the S&L debacle.
Really good article ahansen!
So is it at all like Indians buying all of the quik-marts and mom and pop motels? Will they have turf wars with the Chinese while we buy beer and cigs and scratch-offs?
Echo the sentiments here, very well written!
Great article, ahansen, and food for thought.
How big of a defining factor can be Chinese or Indian investors? And are they indeed comparable to former “Japanese threat” of the 80s, i.e., no real impact at all?
I googled “population of” China, India, and US. Here’s the estimate as of July 2008:
China - $1.3bn
India - $1.2bn
Chindia - $2.5bn vs. US - $304m
Lets say only the top 1% of Chindia ever become rich enough to buy in the US. That would increase demand by 25 million additional “heads”, or 8% of the current total US population.
Chindia is no Japan. It’s much poorer, but the population is HUGE, and their wealth, and demand, is growing.
A personal anecdote - a year ago I looked into Jersey golden shore condos. These are new construction, Manhattan skyline view, doorman, so called luxury buildings (I didn’t find them all that appealing, no sense of community, scary projects nearby, overpriced - but never mind). It’s a pretty convenient one stop by Path to the city, or a short hop by ferry to Wall Street area - and these new condos are filled to the brims with Indians.
The Indians are probably accustomed to living cheek by jowl with slum communities in their home country. So this may not discomfort them in the slightest.
Wonderful article. Thank you so much this just made my day.
When you mentioned the idea of the Chinese buying San Diego, the only thought that entered my mind was “Hah! Take that La Raza!”
the only thought that entered my mind was “Hah! Take that La Raza!”
I confess that the same uncharitable concept was the first thing in my mind, too.
I confess that the same uncharitable concept was the first thing in my mind, too.
Me tres.
Great minds stink alike
Yes, count me in!
Everybody wants the US, don’t they? Chinese, Japanese, Middle Easterners, Hispanics, etc.
What I’m waiting for is the Chinese to start agitating for all written material to be translated into their language.
What I’m waiting for is the Chinese to start agitating for all written material to be translated into their language.
You haven’t been to L.A. lately, have you?
I confess that the same uncharitable concept was the first thing in my mind, too.
Me tres.
Say, is this subtle irony, lavi? Because I notice you’re extra good at subtle irony.
Me tres.
Say, is this subtle irony, lavi? Because I notice you’re extra good at subtle irony.
More like “subtle inanity”. A lot of times I’ll say “me dos” instead of “me too”, just to see if anyone is listening and/or gets it.
My ex-father-in-law, who’s hispanic, used to say that he was waiting for Microsoft to come out with MS/TRES.
Corny, corny, maize.
Corny, corny, maize.
Hahaha, more.
Brought a smile to me …
Very interesting item - certainly my “tell me something I didn’t know item for today.” A significant number of condos in my building are owned by foreign nationals - mostly by their children to have a “safe house” if their home country has political problems (no countries will be mentioned here to protect the guilty).
Makes me think my decision to “buy at the bottom” this April was a good one. . .we shall see.
Today it was announced that the national debt would expand by over $9 trillion in the next 10 years. There is no hope that any costs will be cut by our president and congress, without it being forced on them. The dollar will most likely be devalued. That will lead to rising taxes. That will most likely lead to price inflation of all necessities as the rest of the world is less likely to keep supporting the dollar.
The last time we had a terrible economic climate in the U.S. was in the late 70s and early 80s. How did real estate do during that time? That is the question I would be asking. I believe real estate got hammered in many parts of the country as people were more worried about keeping lights on and food on the table.
I just don’t see real estate being this safe and secure investment that so many other people see. Real estate likes stability. The next 10 years will be so filled with fiscal problems that I can’t possibly see how there will be certainty any place in the United States.
Keep buying up real estate. You might make a fortune. You might also get clobbered. Good luck to all. Your faith in our ability to continue to throw trillions of dollars at problems is much greater than mine. Give Eddie a call. I’m sure he will have some tips for you.
+1
“How did real estate do during that time? That is the question I would be asking.”
And the questions I would be asking is, ‘How did government efforts to prop up the sagging real estate market in the early 1980s compare to similar efforts currently underway,’ and ‘Regardless of the answer to the first question, are current efforts to prop up the value of housing likely to succeed?’
In the late 1970s there was a tremendous RE bubble in the SF BA. Prices nearly quadrupled in 5 years. My parents bought a condo in 1974 for $55K and sold it in 1979 for $185K.
Yup, I remember that. I was in the service at the time. Came home on leave looked at real estate prices and thought what the f*ck happened. That ballon was gigantic.
*gasp *
I believe this is the first time I’ve witnessed you say an almost-bad word! Thank heavens for asterisks, or who knows what would have happened!
Oly, SFgal is around all those hills and stuff, so a gal can slip once in awhile !
Oh I can swear like a truck driver. Learned from my dad and grandpa.
Oh I can swear like a truck driver. Learned from my dad and grandpa.
And yet you’ve hidden your gifts from us!
Secreted your talents under a bushel-basket on a hillside…or whatever that Bible phrase is, I can’t remember.
I have a gift for blasphemy as well. It runs in the bloodline. My grampaw, who in most ways was a tall and peaceful farmer-guy, would sometimes be out plowing and then something would happen to his plowing apparatus, like a rock*, and he would darken the air with exciting phrases. There’d be warp-holes in time and space, and the tractor would spark, and Sat*an would come by and take notes interestedly.
This is what I hear, anyway. He died when I was young. My only memory of him is of him spanking me. (And you know why he spanked me? Because I said some terrible words. Man, talk about hypocrisy! I shouted them from the large green chair in their living room when a commercial came on and disturbed my teevee watching.)
Anyway, yeah, it’s a gift, SanFranGal. You shouldn’t stifle it anymore.
*Of course, who doesn’t swear at rocks? I often swear at rocks. I sometimes stop in the middle of the road and swear at rocks, just to be sure, and because I may as well, and out of respectful memory of grampaw.
Just as long as you don’t throw them at state troopers while you’re swearing.
Just as long as you don’t throw them at state troopers while you’re swearing.
Nope! I’m not actively dumb. I just like to cuss.
Oh I’m real careful when I swear. Momma raised no fool
In the late 1970s there was a tremendous RE bubble in the SF BA
The 70’s were when land value went way up.. due to a decrease in the supply of land. I wouldn’t categorize it as due to a bubble.
For instance, fully half of San Mateo County is off limits to housing today, due to “environmental” laws passed in the 70’s.
I can categorize it was a bubble. I live in San Mateo County and lived in San Mateo County in the 70s. There was definitely a bubble and still is right now.
fine.. categorize it as a bubble..
Suppose half of SMC broke away and fell into the ocean. Half the land just disappears. What’s left immediately increases in value.
Is that also a bubble?
Safe and secure is relative.
To you, not having an asset that is decreasing in value and requires maintenance may not be safe and secure.
To someone from China that remembers the cultural revolution when the bourgeoisie where driven from their homes, beaten and sent to reeducation camps even an ugly over valued house in San Diego has its merits.
+1
+ Fifty-eleven.
“The dollar will most likely be devalued.”
But if ahansen’s thesis that a horde of wealthy Asians are bringing their cash to California to buy real estate is correct, won’t dollar devaluation work in their favor (i.e., increase this component of US real estate demand)?
At any rate, not to worry, as TTT has reiterated the Treasury Department’s ’strong dollar’ policy.
“The number of well-bred, well-educated American kids who have taken this route may surprise you. ”
You’re so right; I just realized I’ve been hearing about people going to China to teach English..I wondered what that was about. Not just young, either, but retirees, former govt officials, academics looking for something different for a semester or two. I can’t say it ever appealed to me, though.
Two kids from my workplace who had gotten married and said, “Wow, we’re underutilized and have large student loans to pay off” quit their jobs and moved to Korea as ESL teachers. One’s teaching kindergarteners and the other one is teaching middle schoolers. All they have to do is show up to work, be very, very nice, and speak to the kids in English. And teach them how to write and read in English as well, but that is just by recitation and “copy this” sorts of techniques. Neither one has a teaching degree. I hear he loves it and she doesn’t like it much at all because the men keep trying to hit her on her way to the subway. Also, they took their cats overseas with them, and I hear that Koreans in Seoul are afraid of felines. All this is hearsay thru the workplace grapevine, but still interesting.
Koreans also like to eat felines.
Perhaps we may take comfort in the knowledge that in general, folks are far less likely to blow up their own investments –let alone their own relatives. Whether Chinese investments in American real estate blow up in their faces, however, remains to be seen.
World trade is peace.
Protectionism makes war most possible. Passing that onto Palmy.
‘Protectionism makes war most possible.’ BS.
We do not put any tax levies on similar products and such brought into the US, but other countries do. And we can see how well that is helping our ‘job’ market.
Right on, desert.
Palmy, the Proud Protectionist.
For as long as there is a greater demand for resources than there is supply, we will have “groups” of people trying to hoard their wealth and protect it from “outsiders.”
This is a survival mechanism, and very basic to human nature.
For whatever reason, today’s Americans are sitting on a tremendous amount of resources while we have a tiny portion of the world’s population. It’s only natural that we would want to protect our position.
Unfortunately, we have a few people who ultimately control those resources (financial elite/corporations/government) who are perfectly willing to sell off these precious resources for personal gain.
IMHO, this is essentially what’s behind “protectionism,” and I’m not sure why people think it’s somehow evil.
World trade is war.
The US Military has been used many times to protect the interest of US businesses abroad. So has the British Military. So has the French Military. etc. etc. etc.
This is a sad mischaracterization of the role of trade in a global economy. The fact that maritime routes need to be protected against piracy should not be confused with the notion that trade is tantamount to warfare.
I side with Bill in LA on this issue. End world trade, set the plate for WWIII.
Thank you PB. The rest of the posters here did not read history of protectionism. Shame.
“When goods cannot cross borders, armies will.”
Frederic Bastiat
World peace??? f*** that s****!!!!
Q: What is best in Life?
A: To crush your enemies! See them driven before you… and hear the lamentations of their women…
Conan the Barbarian
Sssshhhhh !
Conan the Librarian
Is this made with chicken stock?
–Conan the Vegetarian
Ben Bernake is full of doodie.
-Conan the Contrarian
I’m hot tonight!
- Gonad the Barbarian
Jah rules, mon.
-Conan the Rastafarian.
Where’s my soup…?
Conan the Octogenarian
The ayes have it.
-Conan the Parliamentarian
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a lousy actor
Conan the Governor
Go plant some taters.
Conan the Agrarian.
Feel the love.
Conan the Aquarian
How utterly irrelevant.
Conan the Seminarian libertarian
I used to be a vegan, but decided that life without cheese omlettes wasn’t worth living.
Conan the Ovo-Lactarian
the real Conan the librarian (from Weird Al Yankovich, UHF)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZHoHaAYHq8
LOL
Guiseppe Conan the Gondolier ? Oh wait, that was some kind of opera. Too much forced overtime I guess.
one of the funniest threads ever!
First stated by Temujin, aka Genghis Khan. No kidding.
“What is the greatest pleasure life offers?” the nomad chieftan asked his companions?
“To ride out on the steppe when the grass is green, with a fast horse beneath you and a falcon on your wrist,” one old friend replied.
“No,” the chieftan said. “The greatest pleasure is to break your enemies, to drive them before you, to take all the things that have been theirs, to hear the weeping of those who cherished them, to press in you arms the most desirable of their women.”
- Temujin (Genghis Khan), from _50_Military_Leaders_Who_Changed_The_World_, by William Weir
Pleasant fellow.
Trade has been used as a weapon - resulting in war when it is withheld. Japan in 1941 comes to mind. Right now we use it against Iran and Cuba.
World trade is economic warfare, something that most people seem to forget or not discuss in “polite company.”
Unlike personal and mechanized, destructive warfare, economic warfare is an ongoing operation.
ALL war is about control of resources. It may be conducted and incited under various ideologies, but it is ultimately about resources.
Absolutely right-on, eco!
“And now, apparently, it’s China’s turn to play. It makes sense, of course, for when the dollar officially devalues—as it ultimately must—instead of holding worthless paper, Chinese investors will at least be holding hard assets. Overpriced, certainly, and likely highly leveraged, but real estate nonetheless. Conversely, it would appear that the US has been quietly wholesaling its enormous losses to China. A win win for everyone except us worker bees on both sides of the Pacific, the ones who still have savings accounts.”
This is a fascinating theory, albeit one nowhere to be found in the MSM. It strikes me that we have reached a point in history where blogs are filling the evolutionary niches left by the vacuums in financial regulation and in financial journalism. I look forward to learning whether this account of the current phase of the War on Savers is either confirmed or refuted through the lens of historical retrospect.
Yep. Me too, Prof.
‘Surrounded every day by smart, wealthy, and ambitious young “communists” all eager to learn English and make lots of money,…’
Communism ain’t all that any more. Neither is capitalism, unless you insert the adjective ‘crony’ in front of it.
“Crony Communism?” It does have a nice ring to it.
Eta pravda, tavarish.
Corporate Communist Capitalism©®™
“Perhaps we may take comfort in the knowledge that in general, folks are far less likely to blow up their own investments –let alone their own relatives.”
I can think of some notable exceptions, but will forego mentioning any.
Civil wars nothwithstanding Professor, please feel free to shoot my statement out of the water. Really. This blog is for everyone’s enlightenment not ego gratification.
It’s ubersmarties like you who have taught me to couch any statement I make in a public forum with disclaimers like, “in general” and “far less likely” and “perhaps.”
See what wienie I am?
My veiled reference to people who wear veils and some times blow themselves up must not have been very clear.
At any rate, I am not trying to shoot anything; as I have indicated elsewhere on this thread that I have very little evidence to refute or support your conjectures. I have next to no ammunition available, even if I were in the mood for shooting.
Don’t call him an ubersmarty. You’ll just encourage him and his head will swell.
It doesn’t work that way. I feel as dumb and duped as the next guy by the financial meltdown and “screw whomever we choose” rescue operation.
Well, I still think you’re an uber-smarty!
Looks like my reply to this got eaten. I’ll try again because I think it’s important.
LOL.
Civil wars and psychopaths notwithstanding, please don’t hesitate to call me out on anything I write. This blog is for our information, not our egos. Ubersmarties like you are the reason I’ve learned to couch my public opinions with weaselly disclaimers like “perhaps,” and “in general” and “far less likely.”
Perhaps we may take comfort in the knowledge that in general, folks are far less likely to blow up their own investments –let alone their own relatives.”
The problem is that for many countries it is only the elite’s that invest and move to the US. The masses don’t have an economic interest in the US in fact in many cases they view the US as having played a roll in their subjugation and poverty. This feeling is exploited by others who wish to take over the reigns of said country and they harness it with religion or some other ideology. I’m sure the Sha of iran sent countless relatives to the US and had plenty of invested money here.
But you didn’t see Pahlavi threatening to blow up the US, did you? Iranian hatred for the US was (and is,) convenient within Iran proper, but (wink wink) the Shah made a pretty good living off of it, didn’t he…?
Same with our man in Chechnya, Osama bin Laden. (Who received $320M to build the Tora Bora complex. Who knows what else he got paid for?)
We buy their trinkets with a limited shelf life and they buy our real estate with our cash…
“Nice Trade” Lieutenant Dunbar…
Didn’t the Dutch pull the same stunt buying Manhatten?
Hold on- I’m getting confused. Is real estate worthless junk or a precious national resource?
It’s not worthless junk, but overpriced junk.
And if you’ve got a buyer for your overpriced junk, shouldn’t you sell?
No, because the market will be coming back soon, and then I’ll make even MORE money on my overpriced junk.
*rubs hands greedily *
I sense that the overestimation of China’s economic power will be one the great stories of the next decade or so. As I recall during Japan’s ascent during the 80’s, Americans ascribed all kinds of special powers to Japanese business acumen, extolling Japanese management practices, etc. I think the same thing is happening with China right now. We’re all buying into the BS that China is growing exponentially. I repeatedly read about how the Chinese are going to change from an export-driven economy to a domestic-driven one. That’s where I call BS. It strikes me as almost completely delusional that a gigantic peasant class in China will replace the bloated, debt-driven demands of the US consumer. I predict a major, major economic contraction in China and political chaos to follow, as all of those young future capitalists become angry at the massive, broken promise of continued prosperity. (Of course, I could be totally wrong.)
It was only a few months ago that the MSM were reporting about the job losses in China — all related to our downturn in the economy. Our economies are surely all linked.
China’s main investments are in foreign infrastructure that will support China’s economic growth. Although the USD is still the commonly accepted currency, the focus of their investment is turning to Africa and Mexico–a cheap source of both resources and labor– and potentially huge new markets for their output now that US has been saturated.
It’s not the volume of the investment that interests me so much as the colonial thrust of it all.
Should read “main FOREIGN” investments
ahansen,
I too find it interesting about their investments into Africa and Mexico. I’ve read a couple of articles about that.
I’ve always wondered what the Chinese government would do if they started losing or felt threatened about their investments.
You’ve got that right, Lionel. This whole new world order crap is nauseating. China’s going to wilt like a Hydrangea in Phoenix. They’ve got more empty real estate than we do, millions upon millions of workers who moved from rural communes to the cities to help produce useless crap we no longer import, and who now have no work and are being forced back to their poverty stricken rural existence. China’s stock market took a 70% beating during the crash, and while it bubbled back up, was off another 20% recently. A handful of wealthy Chinese businessmen in a country of citizens counted by the billions is nothing to get excited about. They are statistical outliers.
I have also read that China has a problem with water in several parts of the country.
Water issues, air quality issues, pervasive environmental toxins galore — it’s a side effect of all that wonderful unfettered growth in China. Their governmental heavies have started to realize these issues will impact their dreams of world dominance, but they’re moving slow.
There’s a wonderful documentary about China’s environment sins which was produced in Canada. I cannot remember the name of it- I will try to figure it out- but it was the most eye opening piece I’ve ever watched. They sneaked cameras in, and filmed factories pumping untreated toxic sludge straight into the rivers which communities used for drinking water, etc. All of the fish were dead, the river changed colors, and whole villages were being wiped out by cancer, etc. It was disgusting.
environmental sins
Grizzly find it for us. Surprised the videos got out.
Grizzly, I’ve got a friend who works for the ports here in WA. He went on a trade junket over to China, and he says the same thing.
I’ve seen some footage specifically about computer reclamation sites, and a film by a landscape architect that touched on many of these issues as well. Will try to dig up some info.
Manufactured Landscapes
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0832903/
You can get it on Netflix.
China’s Pollution Busters?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR8WInWv5eQ
This site has tons of China Documentaries:
chinadocs.blogspot.com
My other post might not make it, but the landscape photographers documentary is ‘Manufactured Landscapes’ and you can get it on Netflix.
NYT:
WUXI, China — President Obama wants to make the United States “the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy,” but in his seven months in office, it is China that has stepped on the gas in an effort to become the dominant player in green energy — especially in solar power, and even in the United States.
Chinese companies have already played a leading role in pushing down the price of solar panels by almost half over the last year. Shi Zhengrong, the chief executive and founder of China’s biggest solar panel manufacturer, Suntech Power Holdings, said in an interview here that Suntech, to build market share, is selling solar panels on the American market for less than the cost of the materials, assembly and shipping.
Backed by lavish government support, the Chinese are preparing to build plants to assemble their products in the United States to bypass protectionist legislation. As Japanese automakers did decades ago, Chinese solar companies are encouraging their United States executives to join industry trade groups to tamp down anti-Chinese sentiment before it takes root.
I was speaking to someone in the solar industry and he said prices are down because the Europeans aren’t buying any more.
Well, a lot of the German purchases were heavily subsidised (likely even more than we do now here in the USA recently), and if those subsidies ran out, it suddenly becomes not so economically feasible to put up solar cells in that northern, cloudy place. Are their programs still in place, or have they hit saturation? I haven’t had time to keep up with it.
Anyway, I always figured it would be far better for the solar farms to be on the SOUTHERN side of the Alps, not the northern!
OK, I caught up a little: The Germans started cutting solar-electric subsidies and price supports last year. They had been supporting a minimum price of (at the time) about 74 cents per kWH of solar power; compare that to about 10 or 12 cents per kWH here in much of the USA. That got expensive, and after nine years of it, perhaps the government decided that it was time for solar to stand more on its own financially.
So the problem with artificial demand, as here with German solar, is that once the props are pulled out, it can’t hold up.
I heard drywall shipments to the US have slowed somewhat.
I keep lowballing them on poorly made diode pumped solid-state laser toys, they won’t budge!
But how one can explane the 70% increase of car sales in China for the first half of this year from year ago, besides the shift from export driven to domestic driven economy? Will anybody try?
Dan, as I understand it, the measure you’re writing about relates to units shipped, not purchased. As soon as a car or truck is moved from the factory it is counted as a purchase. That’s a number that is pretty easy to inflate artificially.
I don’t think anyone would argue that China was reaping huge profits from their exports, and that made a lot of Chinese people wealthy. But it’s only a small portion of their population. The current consumption is likely based upon past results. Check out the Baltic Dry Index. China’s exports are falling off a cliff. I don’t expect this to change course in the near term as I know many, many people who have lost, or will be losing, their jobs. These people are not buying Chinese crap anymore. China’s future doesn’t look very bright, to me.
No, it doesn’t look very bright! I am pleased that the BDI is being referenced by someone other than me. It’s not just the DJIA or S&P! It’s also the BDI and Dow Transportations! Well, the DJT is still correlated.
Anyway, China has some serious problems. 300 Million live a “middle class” life. 900 Million live in poverty. Three times the population of the US. The PRC is trying to keep their collective heads from being displayed on a pole.
India has problems, also. Just not the horrible demographics or imbalances that China has. Still, both are very fragile. Japan is much more robust. Remember “The Japan That Could Say No” and “Japan, Inc.”? Is that China’s ultimate fate? No. If China doesn’t succeed, it will burn.
Roidy
I tend to agree, Lionel. The proportion of Chinese we Americans would consider “wealthy” is miniscule. And the yuan IS pegged to the USD.
I agree with you totally. Some people are saying that China is be a recession-proof country, but based on how so dependent they are on foreign markets nowadays…NO WAY!!!
People in the Americas and in Europe have already cut back on spending, and that includes spending on even ordinary products made in Chinese mega-sweatshops. In some ways, I sort of feel sorry for where they’ll end up, but they have decided to erect new statues on weak, overdeveloped ground and weak financial foundations and thus are at the point of suffering a consequence. As least this could mean a much needed decrease in their carbon footprint…
I happen to be the proprietor of one full blooded Cuban-American woman as well as a much younger half gringo. Any idea how much I can get for them in Shanghai?
New business opportunity noted: Marriage brokerage services to match poor, lonely blond, blue-eyed American girls with rich Chinese industrialists seeking to gain a foothold on American soil…
Its really no stretch to think that China desperately needs women. Actually any women. Their one child per family policy is totally backfiring on them and there will be millions upon millions of disenfranchised males all searching for a wife. Might just make for a revolution!
Then why don’t they stop putting their girl children up for adoption to out of country parents?
My husband and I are parents through int’l adoption and were in the China program before it stretched out to a 3 year and climbing wait.
China allows *maybe* 10,000 children out of the country per year for adoption. These children are all abandoned in boxes on the side of the road b/c it is illegal to place your child for adoption in China. It is estimated that over 100,000 girls (and a small percentage of boys - usually special needs) are abandoned this way every year (so only 10% are allowed to be sent overseas for adoption) - and that likely hundreds of thousands more are aborted after illegal ultrasounds which determine sex (it is illegal for ultrasound techs to tell you the sex of your child so there are black market ultrasounds).
Although many provinces allow you to have 2 children now with no fine (if the first child was a girl), social scientiest theorize that many of the abandoned girls are the 2nd born girl in the family - the family wanting to try for a boy.
My uncle is father of 2 as well.
That still doesn’t approach the subject of why China isn’t concerned about the HUGE disparity of boys to girls in their country, and that many girls are being stolen as well as boys to families in china who want a wife for their son(s) or they want a son to leave their legacy.
It is still a big problem and growing.
When my mom was last in Europe (around 2003 or so), she said there were numerous ads placed looking for wives for Chinese men. Supposedly, they’ve been hitting up Europe, but don’t seem to want American wives! LOL!
maybe they’ll all turn gay and take over the fashion world (not that there’s anything wrong with that)
maybe they’ll all turn gay and take over the fashion world (not that there’s anything wrong with that)
But then all they’d produce would be darling weensy little clothes. Big ol’ round-eye whitey’s couldn’t get them on. We’d have to get them purely to dress our Barbies with. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Barbies are people, too.
I think they’ve got the ‘plus-size’ thing down. They supply wal mart don’t they?
I think they’ve got the ‘plus-size’ thing down. They supply wal mart don’t they?
I’ve sometimes wondered what they think, those lucky, lucky 9-year-old Chinese workers who labor for the princely sum of 25 cents an hour, as they industriously churn out plus-44 size mumuu’s in garish polyester blends, whizzing the cloth around the sewing-machine with their dainty thread-like fingers. Do they think we’re aliens? Cannibals? Alien cannibals?
I really want to know.
alpha & Oly,
You two took that in a direction that was wildly off base. Either of you ever get to Florida, let me know & the martinis are on me.
LOL I wondered the same thing last time I was dragged to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, and watched the tiny little Asian waitstaff carry out monster pans of fried tidbits which the waiting behemoths piled on their plates and covered with sweet-and-sour sauce. I swear one plateful could feed a village. Must make for interesting phone calls home. (’I fed Godzilla today!’)
Careful with the invites, Jon! I’m in the Jacksonville area quite often, and Tampa and Miami on occasion. And I likes me a free martini.
alpha & Oly,
You two took that in a direction that was wildly off base. Either of you ever get to Florida, let me know & the martinis are on me.
Well, fetch your shaker and some Spanish olives, in case I head on down there to bid on those interesting sale items you mentioned below.
I wondered the same thing last time I was dragged to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, and watched the tiny little Asian waitstaff carry out monster pans of fried tidbits which the waiting behemoths piled on their plates and covered with sweet-and-sour sauce.
NO. FREAKIN’.WAY! How long have you posted here, slothy? Not very long, it seems to me, and that means you missed my elaborate discussion of one of my favorite dreams! I call it the ‘Chinese Buffet Dream’, and I love it soooo much when it occurs! It’s as good as the dreams where I dream I’m a dragon and burning down the town and roaring around stamping everything to flinders!
Our thoughts on Chinese buffets are the same, and I’m going to go search archives for it, right this minute, because this is just uncanny. And then I’m going to go eat some egg rolls and burn down the town while I roar mightily.
I definitely want to hear more about the ‘Chinese Buffet Dream’. Is there a surcharge?
No surcharge, slothy, and the soda is free, too!
…Ahhh, I don’t know how to search archives, so I’ll just tell you, just for you, since you show such good taste and discernment, and sorry to the rest of you who already heard it a few months ago. It’s an awesome dream, anyway, so shut up.
I’m always thrilled when I have it, and I awaken with muffled squeals of joy*.
Okay! So, in my dream I go into a Chinese restaurant and I look around with satisfaction. I sit down and pick up and peruse the menu but this is just for form, I know what I’m going to get—I wrinkle my girlish brow in a fake, studious sort of way and then I slap the faintly sticky menu down and march to the buffet. At this time I survey the whole shebang with a measured eye, and then I grab a plate. When it’s laden down and my arms are quaking with the strain of holding it I sit back down and solemnly, steadily I begin to eat. I just sit there and eat and eat and eat.
I eat and eat and eat, with complete gusto, sometimes with my eyes shut.
I eat won-tons by the score, I consume battalions of egg rolls with that garish vivid red sweet and sour sauce, mounds of broccoli beef, cashew chicken, BBQ’d pork, Mongolian beef and those those little mushroom thingies, and everything else.
Eventually many darling white-clad Asian midgets begin to gawp and cluster by the kitchen door, peeping out and whispering sibilantly to each other in wonderment. I become aware that a legend is being formed. But I don’t care. I’m not distracted. I just keep on eating.
I eat until I can’t get up and waddle from the table anymore and then I daintily dab my lips off and smile in satisfaction.
That’s generally it.**
Man! It’s the best dream ever! And the best part of this is? Is sometimes I’m not even asleep***!
*Muffled, ’cause I’ve eaten half my pillow and my mouth is full of that weird polyester stuffing that doesn’t taste a speck like eggrolls, unfortunately.
**I didn’t say it was a complex dream. I just said it was a good dream.
***I love you, Lee’s Buffet, over on the Westside of my fine town. I love you. And I’m not just saying that because I want more eggrolls, either.
I think they’ve got the ‘plus-size’ thing down. They supply wal mart don’t they?
I’ve sometimes wondered what they think, those lucky, lucky 9-year-old Chinese workers who labor for the princely sum of 25 cents an hour, as they industriously churn out plus-44 size mumuu’s in garish polyester blends, whizzing the cloth around the sewing-machine with their dainty thread-like fingers. Do they think we’re aliens? Cannibals? Alien cannibals?
I really want to know.
TENTS, for camping?
When I used to travel in and out of PuertoRico/SantaDomingo, I was astonished as how much NEON yellow/green or orange spandex can expand over a bottom. It was never in a tasteful black to hide ‘your sins’, it was always (and I use my ‘always/never kinds of words sparingly) NEON Yellow, Neon Orange, Neon Green with of course the spare tube top and really really big earrings and smiles to match. I loved watching those women. It was a real
“chinese buffet” of human desire to look B eauti Ful!
“…I consume battalions of egg rolls with that garish vivid red sweet and sour sauce, mounds of broccoli beef, cashew chicken…”
That’s not chicken. I ordered Chicken Katsu from an Asian restaurant, which I believe should have been called Chicken Cat-su.
You people are making me hungry. There’s a good Chinese restaurant 3 blocks away, but I think they’re about to close. It’s after 9pm here. Maybe tomorrow.
That’s not chicken. I ordered Chicken Katsu from an Asian restaurant, which I believe should have been called Chicken Cat-su.
Hey, this is MY dream, Mr. Bear. So I can eat whatever I want, and it tastes good.
Our chinese restaurant in Granite City Il. got shut down for cooking cats.
Oly,
I remember when I was a kid, there was a Twilight Zone episode just like that. A guy dies and then winds up in a chinese restaurant. He thinks he’s in heaven and he eats and eats and eats and then he realizes he’ll never be full and that he’s actually in hell. It really creeped me out!
Our local Chinese buffet has all of their notices and signs in the place in Spanish. I can’t read most of them, maybe they are looking for Mexican brides?
pot. buyer,
I had the same thought, but a Business Week article of 2/28/05 points to some medical research that suggests the high male/female birth ratio in China is mostly due to the Hepatitis B virus.
(Right, I too am shocked and disbelieving.)
You made me smile there with the pot. buyer. I mentioned in my exercise class last night that if I didn’t get work soon, that would be my next job - selling weed. Ha! Me and everyone else in California.
Sounds like Weeds.
Not just China, Taiwan and Korea also need women.
They are importing the women from Vietnam.
A number of 700,000 to Taiwan was reported recently.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/12/29/2003286462
“Marriage brokerage services to match poor, lonely blond, blue-eyed American girls ”
On some level, I would like to get involved with that enterprise.
“…How much can I get for them in Shanghai?”
Probably not much, as any available jobs are eagerly taken up by rural Chinese trying to better their family’s lives. Racism in PRC is never far from the surface–much like 1950’s Mississippi. Or 2010 San Diego.
Surprisingly, a lot of human trafficking of Chinese nationals comes to the US comes through Mexico, and the indentured are put to work on the drug cartel’s network of pot farms here. The Chinese money behind Mexican gangs is one of those dirty little secrets you don’t often hear about.
And trafficking via adoption of only chinese girl infants.
Ethnic girl infants.
And trafficking via adoption of only chinese girl infants.
A friend of my sister’s adopted a Chinese baby girl about 5 years back. They wanted her to grow up with a knowledge of her heritage so they enrolled her in some sort of class that did calligraphy, stuff like that—like a preschool class geared for little kids, but with a Chinese cultural heritage theme. I’m sorry I don’t know more about it, or even where this was —someplace in San Diego, which is where my sister lived for about 6 years.
Yes! I AM getting to the point!
So, I didn’t pay much attention when my sis mentioned this, ’cause I don’t know her friend in the first place, but I mentally sat up and took note when she told me that her friend had said that other little Chinese adoptees were also in this class. Thirty of them. And every single one of them was a little girl. Not one boy.
Gender imbalance, anyone?
You may want to invest in Kleenex and petroleum jelly in China. Something tells me they will be having a shortage in a few years.
Remember Tienanmen? And how this hardcore totalitarian regime executes and persecutes at will?
*there is a reason* why Russia has tens of SS-18 “Satan” pointed at the whole of China, and anyone on the sino-russian border carries an AK-47… as the saying goes… if you hear a sound shoot!
It is either a bear or a chinese invading!
WHOA just ask This generation with the Ipods black berries and wii’s….HUH uh…how do you say that tenaman square iz dat like a new hot hot hot night club?
—————————-
Remember Tienanmen
They wouldn’t bring much in certain SoCal neighborhoods, it seems.
I happen to be the proprietor of one full blooded Cuban-American woman as well as a much younger half gringo. Any idea how much I can get for them in Shanghai?
Awww, forget Shanghai. That’s too far and the goods are perishable.
Tell me: can this proffered Cuban-American mujere* cook good Cuban food? Because I LOVE that Caribbean food!
And as for the little half-gringo—I been thinking I need to get me one of those. I love kids.
So, how much you want?
*But is she quiet and respectful?**
**I bet she isn’t. I bet that’s why you’re holding this sale in the first place. Man, nothing more annoying than a sassy woman.
love the disclaimer ben.
That was me, michael. A few weeks back, folks were attacking Ben for stuff I’d posted–apparently think he’d written it. I wouldn’t wish my online rep on ANYbody–especially not The Benster.
You really need to get this info to the masses. This is the kind of news that the collective “we” need to see.
Bravo- I love your insight, and the way you put it into words.
It was a great column, ahansen. I especially like your challenging our assumptions about the shadow inventory. Well, there may inDEED be a huge shadow inventory, but it’s certainly worth considering other possibilities.
That there is a shadow inventory isn’t a point for serious debate (Deutsche Bank has the numbers), but what’s being done with it - who, when and why - those are the questions.
Interesting article.
But I don’t understand the underlying economic motivation.
Here is where the wheels come off the bus:
Why would anyone (even a REIT held by China) buy distressed
properties that have no chance of turning an immediate profit?
All properties, either commercial or residential have carry costs.
(property tax, maintenance, insurance, etc). Those costs have
to be paid out of current cash flow, irregardless if the dollar
tanks or not.
Especially given the propensity of government at all levels to
raise taxes, it would seem hard assets such as Real Estate
would be the next target.
Someone eventually has to pay. While the Chinese hold enormous
US$ reserves, they are not $$$ bottomless. (At least I don’t think
they are <:} )
Don’t underestimate China’s interest in the continuation of the economic model that is making them quite wealthy. Buying excess RE from distressed banks helps perpetuate the current system and offers a decent inflation hedge. Siamese twins need the other half to live.
Imagine being a Chinese peasant living off $2 per day and you hear that your government is busy buying up “distressed” real estate in the United States.
You are under the assumption they would hear about that, or even be told the truth about what they are doing in the United States.
Imagine being an American peasant making $130 a day and learning you government is busy handing your taxes to CEO’s and banksters….
BINGO shizo
Snork, shizo. Good ‘un.
octal,
Although there are not-insignificant numbers of Chinese nationals buying individual properties in the US, what I found remarkable is the PPIP angle. Essentially, it’s the same old Mortgage Backed Securities scam repackaged,(bundled,) leveraged, and guaranteed (again,) by US savers.
The rationale seems to be that when the USD unwinds, at least investors will be holding hard assets (blocks of actual US real estate.) As to what behind-the-scenes machinations are taking place (I.E. which US entities will be picked to administer this fund,) I couldn’t venture a guess….(not) Anyway, it has Ben Bernanke written all over it.
Prof has shared some interesting observations on this seeming conundrum– perhaps he could repost?
The idea that wealthy Asians support the high price of Coastal
CA real estate is not a new one — I heard it first about a decade back from a real estate economist I know. So far, it doesn’t look like the support my friend imagined to be there has held up very well, but that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t kick in at sufficiently low price levels.
I personally have no data available to support or refute the extent to which Asian investors are snapping up CA coastal deals at $200/sq ft, but it seems like a reasonable enough explanation (in addition to the highly visible government interventions to prop up prices). It seems pretty clear that US household incomes and employment situations are not presently up to supporting real estate prices at this level.
The suggestion that our treasury secretary might be lining up deals to make it easier for the Chinese to purchase real estate, in order to stem further housing price declines, certainly does add a bit of intrigue to the story, though.
My best hope: Govt interventions will eventually end, and many
of the current round of investors (whether from Asia or elsewhere) will get burned for purchasing at levels not supported local residential market fundamentals. It seems like the outlook for CA’s economic future is not very good if the potential future labor force remains indefinitely priced out of the housing market.
But then perhaps it is the newly arriving wealthy Asians who will revitalize the CA economy — who’s to say?
One further note:
Given that the Chinese established a foothold on California soil around 1849 or so, they have presumably provided a pillar of support for California real estate demand ever since. So I am wondering what has changed in the picture to make this fundamental source of real estate demand suddenly loom more important than it was previously?
What has changed is that the US is paying 7x investment to buy it from US banks.
Why?
“What has changed is that the US is paying 7x investment to buy it from US banks.”
Reference, please?
http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/08/news/companies/ppip/
It’s in the post, but it’s easy to miss.
“It’s in the post, but it’s easy to miss.”
I saw that, but I had no luck searching the reference on ‘China’ and ‘Chinese’. So I am missing anything like hard evidence on the important connection between this program and Chinese investors. I can understand reasons this might be kept out of the MSM limelight, but absence of evidence is sometimes consistent with plain old absence.
What has changed?
China’s rise from third-world obscurity to wealthy modern nation?
Try this, Prof. It was quoted but apparently not attributed in the main article.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32443645
Two years ago I was hearing that rich Europeans would hold up the NYC market. I guess Plan B is to say that rich Chinese will hold up “every” market. Excuse me while I step away for a meeting with my economic adviser, Mr. Jack Daniels.
My friend Margarita and I will be meeting later.
My shrink is Doctor Zinfandel.
later on I’ve got a date with my good Buddy Wiser.
(cheeeep)
I’ll have a couple glasses of Sangre de Toro while I’m watching BTVS this evening.
I’m going to haul out the fermenting 5-gallon carboy—very, very gently, so it doesn’t blow—out of my laundry-room and jam on the siphoning tube and and then simply sit there on my couch suckling the sweet and delicious teat of the Beer Goddess while I catch up on ‘True Blood’.
If I remember*, I’ll catch up on some paperwork stuff later, after dinner.
*I won’t remember. I already know that.
“snapping up CA coastal deals at $200/sq ft”
– believe me, if I could find any CA coastal deal w/ actual water view at $200/s.f., I would snap it up too.
Having said that, I’d better now go to the Morro Bay MLS and see if I have to make an offer on anything.
Well there is ONE at $220/sf that CLAIMS ocean views, although the photos suggest something more like ocean “peeks” …must look into it when I get there 11/13/09. No rush, I’m sure.
az lender what is the zip code for Morro and SLO/Los Osos.
Thanks,K
In Florida, everything had a water view. If a turtle took a piss in your backyard next to a Wal-Mart, it was water.
“Although there are not-insignificant numbers of Chinese nationals buying individual properties in the US…”
Can you please provide some hard evidence of this?
I provided a typical anecdotal example in my post, Griz, didn’t pretend to be a scholarly piece. A look around any large university or research enclave will show you numerous Chinese/American matings, many of whom buy houses together.
My cruddy dial-up connection doesn’t allow me to do the “hard” research necessary to get you up-to-date census information. Suggest you google: Chinatown San Francisco, or Chinatown Los Angeles. Or Chinatown San Diego or…
The 2010 census is going to be fascinating, I think.
I’m afraid it’s the same here. I met a mutual acquaintance who was an RE scouting agent for Chinese investors and they were NOT buying 3bdrm/2bath flippers, but entire tract developments and commercial property as well as raw land.
Houston has been constantly expanding since I moved here 30+ years ago and is attractive for RE investments just for that reason.
Wow. Can you provide the names for some of these “entire tract developments” they’re scooping up in your special area? Thanks!
“Why would anyone (even a REIT held by China) buy distressed
properties that have no chance of turning an immediate profit?”
Stupid is as stupid does.
No. IMHO, they are getting rid of dollars.
Ahansen’s post is anecdotally confirming what I’ve suspected for a while.
“Why would anyone (even a REIT held by China) buy distressed
properties that have no chance of turning an immediate profit?”
Some people still think and invest “long”.
Newsflash: those aren’t investments, they’re alligators.
Ahansen, your guest columns are always informative and eye-opening. This is one of your best on both counts.
Maybe all my middle-aged wimmin friends who moan about the lack of eligible men should head over to China.
Where is Big V?
she needs to weigh in on this…
You are playing with volatile explosive here my friend… tread carefully, very, very carefully.
Tee hee, cougar. You guys wish….
You are playing with volatile explosive here my friend.
You sure are! However, one of the reasons I love Bens Blog so much is the exciting explosions….
“Maybe all my middle-aged wimmin friends who moan about the lack of eligible men should head over to China.”
“Eligible” is definitely the key word here, and I don’t think it has anything to do with “available”. Establishing a laundry list of criteria for a prospective mate to adhere to has a way of biting the creator in the ass.
Not a lot of white women attracted to Chinese men. There.
There is a lot of truth to this. There are tons of white male / Asian (including Chinese of course) female couples, but not so much when the gender is reversed. Part of it is the so called “Asian female mystique” that a lot of white males have ingrained in their brains. Some of my friends would seek out only Asian females for relationships and when I ask them why, some of them said they are just attracted to Asian females without giving any real reason.
BTW I am not making judgment about it one way or another, it is what it is. To each’s own. Peace. Cougar out.
wait til they’re really poor, they might find a rich Chinese guy suddenly quite attractive (Kissinger got laid a lot, for crike’s sake)
Didn’t Kissinger say: ‘Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac?’
Or maybe that was some other guy who looked like a wart with spectacles.
He would say that wouldn’t he?
(we all know that sloth is the ultimate aphrodisiac)
We all know that sloth is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
I’ve even got a sampler on my kitchen wall that says this, is how true it is. Right next to the Billy Bass singing fish and the copper molds of lobsters and lumpy hearts I got from my gran. That makes it three times as true.
sloth trismegistus!
Oh, OH! Opening salvo…. Let’s give ‘em a good one today, V.
Here’s your choice:
Bruce Lee
or
Don Rickles
Okay, okay, they’re dead, but they’re references most Americans might understand.
Hows about–
Gok Pak-Wing
or
Brandon Davis
Personally, I’ll take educated, accomplished Asian over dumbass anybody anytime. I doubt I’m the only woman who couldn’t care less about a guy’s ethnicity if he’s got a great…um personality.
Note to myself: pick up ahansen while on the West Coast.
Cougar out (for real this time)!
I doubt I’m the only woman who couldn’t care less about a guy’s ethnicity if he’s got a great…um personality.
Being of the plus-50 demographic, I recently came up with “AWMA” as an age-appropriate (and family-friendly) parallel to “MILF”.
Attractive Women My Age
(And I also called Potential Buyer “Pot Buyer” first, but no one noticed)
I bet they love being described as AW-MAs! It has disappointment and a mother reference, all in one.
(And I also called Potential Buyer “Pot Buyer” first, but no one noticed)
Probably because your target audience was busy inhaling. You should have posted it twice, or something.
are you a ‘manther’, lavi d?
are you a ‘manther’, lavi d?
What part of “Attractive Women My Age” is confusing you?
the attractive part? (rim shot!)
I don’t think Don Rickles is quite dead yet.
My bad, Silverback, and my apologies to the still-animate Mr. Rickles. The comparison I was attempting (and not quite managing to come up with) was Brandon Lee VS Brandon Davis.
Personally, I’ll take educated, accomplished Asian over dumbass anybody anytime. I doubt I’m the only woman who couldn’t care less about a guy’s ethnicity if he’s got a great…um personality.
——————–
Yep. There are some mighty attractive Chinese men out there. Any gal who turns down a nice, wealthy Chinese man is crazy!
“middle-age wimmin…should head over to China”
Alaska is much closer. Dutch Harbor’s reputation is, a 65-year-old woman will get many propositions at the supermarket.
Dutch Harbor’s reputation is, a 65-year-old woman will get many propositions at the supermarket.
From who? Bigfoot?
Alaska has the highest rate of gonorrhea in the US, sooooo I am thinking.. Lots of offlimitedpeni.
Do Chinese get the clap?
with one hand
Oh, alpha. You so good.
Maybe all my middle-aged wimmin friends who moan about the lack of eligible men should head over to China.
As long as they like dating men who are much shorter than them. (I don’t know the size of your friends.)
You know what, this post made me confront some internal thought-patterns that I didn’t even know I had.
…I…I…I think I might be a ’shortist’!
*runs out of room crying in shame *
they can stand beside you and look up your nose…
who cares if there is a tripod involved.
Jus sayin. ;>
they can stand beside you and look up your nose…
That’s an encouraging thought, but I’m nevertheless angered by your cheery trivialization of my angst.
ANYWAY, I’m not a freakin’ giant Amazon who runs out and tramples Buicks in parking lots for fun, is my point! I’m only 5′7″, which is about average ‘Merikan girl size!
I don’t know what the average Chinese male size is, technically. I only know that I don’t want a boyfriend who has a head I can rest my chin on when I grab out my telescope. Okay? Okay.
who cares if there is a tripod involved.
Wow, desertdweller, what IS today: SanFranGal reveals the tip of her cussin’ skills and now we learn you have an impure mind.
Unless, of course, you were talking about astronomy…
“…I don’t want a boyfriend who has a head I can rest my chin on when I grab out my telescope.”
When you grab out YOUR ‘telescope’? I always said you PNW gals were ‘modern’, but that’s a bridge too far for a family blog. (Next you’ll be telling us your honey jar size.)
They might be buying in the US, but who is buying the Chinese buildings?
http://sovereignspeculator.com/2009/08/19/hugh-hendy-walks-around-china/
“…Who is buying the Chinese buildings?…”
Whomever insures them against arson?
Good find. Thanks.
Maybe our banks (JPM, GS,etc) can buy them and the Chinese banks can buy all of ours and then they can sell them back and forth to eachother for more money. It worked the last time we all did it and if the banks get into any trouble their governments can just bail them out (as long as the players are TBTF which has been already established). Honestly, when will this $hit end???
There you go, pressboard. My entire post in one sentence. Well done.
This is the kind of event that Charles Hugh Smith couldn’t anticipate. We’ll have to wait and see how much impact the Chinese really have.
We’ll also have to wait and see if it is a real event.
It’s not like we allow every chinese investor who buys 20 houses to move 20 chinese relatives here, 19 must be rented out. So it would seem we are building a new class of landlords for the future renters of America. Low cost housing unwittingly provided by the PRC.
I’m looking forward to meeting my future Chinese landlord.
It’s not like we allow every chinese investor who buys 20 houses to move 20 chinese relatives here, 19 must be rented out. So it would seem we are building a new class of landlords for the future renters of America.
Upon consideration I think you must be right. Whew! That cheers me up!
…Oh, wait. No, it doesn’t.
So when do all these new leased properties come on the market? I still see building after empty new condo building sitting vacant in our area.
Maybe the Chinese are behind all of these dubious Craiglist postings that I see? You know, the ones that tease with a low rents and inside pictures, but don’t tell you who they are or where the property is located. Then when you contact them with questions about the location, if they answer you at all, it’s a long-winded boilerplate email talking about massive numbers of inquiries and not being able to respond to all the questions without having credit info to know that you’re serious. Sounds like a winning investment strategy to me.
if china is/has/will be dumping dollars to buy US assets…inflation would/should/will be much higher.
months and months ago itulip posted a hypothetical conversation between a U.S. treasury official and a chinese central banker…then a month ago posted an updated conversation.
it was very informative and suggest something similar to ahansen’s general concept…with the addition of rapid inflation.
Would that be rapid inflation in prices AND wages or just prices? If so, the average American budget will be squeezed even tighter. There will be less for housing left over, at the end of the day. Interest rates will rise, making housing more unaffordable.
The Fed is playing a dangerous game. They are trying to get asset inflation without interest rates running higher. They think they have the cobra tamed. Time will tell. Is it the cobra that is being lulled to sleep or the man with the flute?
“There will be less for housing left over, at the end of the day. Interest rates will rise, making housing more unaffordable.”
But this is where the wealthy Chinese in ahansen’s story come in — as deep pockets enabled by the US Treasury Department to come in and snap up real estate that is too expensive for American household budgets. I personally won’t buy into this explanation until I see some hard evidence. But I also will not rule it out…
Michael, any chance you could you track down itulip’s piece and repost?
Considering the massive potential consequences, there is very little about this in the general press. It’s my contention that the US has been systematically inflating its money supply for years to offset the US/China trade imbalance. The logical conclusion is that the housing bubble may have been consciously engineered to address this imbalance around 2002-3 when the “ownership society” was instituted in the US.
i can’t seem to find it…if anyone is a select member of itulip…maybe they could find it in the archive.
select membership to the site is a little too rich for my blood.
It’s my contention that the US has been systematically inflating its money supply for years to offset the US/China trade imbalance.
The US gov has been inflating the money supply to offset the deflationary effects of Chinese labor and technology. Unfortunately this game is coming to an end. The benefits of manufacturing in China are decreasing and the benefits of computerization and automated manufacturing ontime delivery ect have already spread throughout the economy. Technology will not provide the same kind of manufacturing advance in the future. Further printing will lead to inflation at some point, but deleveraging has to occur first. Inflation will be uglier as well. In the past employees banded together and demanded wage increases, but with the new normal of massive unemployment this will not occur as easily and thus the poor will get crushed and eventually you will have riots.
Tend to agree with this, unfortunately.
China doesn’t manufacture so much as it assembles and ships.
I knew that China was going into Africa ,but the people in Africa don’t like China Companies because they import China labor instead of hiring the locals .
One wonders what China’s long term plan is . All I know is that you have a problem when you have over a billion people in a world with declining
resources . It seems to me that America has become a land to be
raped rather than a land to settle and grow in and become American ,like the original settlers . I would feel a lot more comfortable if Countries tried to uplift their own Countries on their own shores ,but only in America do
we have concepts that protect the individual ,even if they are illegal The current financial system reminds
me of gaming of a system and taking the best from different locations in order to in the end have a advantage ,at America’s expense .
This land of milk and honey is turning into the depot for wealth extraction for the rest of the World .
China’s long term plan? Is this a trick question?
World Domination, baby! (or at least make sure the round eyes stay in their part of the world)
Can somebody please define “well-bred American”? I never learned about this species in school.
Who knows? Probably whatever the elitists of the day deem to be fashionable.
Uhh, Blue eyed blonde kids who take their sandwiches on white bread with mayonaisse? Think Oscar Mayer bologna on Wonder Bread with Miracle Whip salad dressing.
…with a last name of Kennedy.
or bush/cheney, well not so much.
LOL
“Well-bred” is my euphemism for the unemployed offspring of post-Yupster FBs. Gentile poverty is nothing new, nor is shipping off to find one’s fortune. Interestingly, a lot of young American religious missionaries are among this group of kids as well.
Read “The Official Preppy Handbook”. That’ll spell it out for you. (although if you have to ask…;)
Uh-oh… I seemed to have spilled barbecue sauce on this copy…. oh dear.
fair trade pacific rim mango barbecue sauce?
I dunno. It was red and tasted of hickory smoke.
Are you gonna eat that pork chop?
Barbecue pork chop? Don’t make me break out my ‘Q’ bona fides. But only a yankee would barbecue a pork chop! (You gotta get up early in the morning to out underclass me–well, noon)
Don’t make me break out my ‘Q’ bona fides.
Bust it out for us, baybee! Don’t be shy.
Shoots, I’m a even goin’ ter yank out my delicious beer tube and sit up straight for this one.
“…yank out my delicious beer tube and sit up straight for this one.”
You tease me because you know I’m a Freudian. Anyhoo, my point was ‘Q’ing a pork chop would be like poaching a t-bone. You could theoretically do it, but ’round here we’d lynch you and give out your fingers and toes as souvenirs if you did. You see, barbecuing is a mystical transmogrification of the basest meat into something unspeakably sublime. To submit a pork chop to it’s process would be like taking your grandmother’s friends to a mosh pit. A nice idea, maybe, but a failure in practice.
(And I won’t even touch on the ‘red, hickory flavored sauce’, except to presume it came from nowhere near a real Q pit.)
“…like poaching a t-bone…
like taking your grandmother’s friends to a mosh pit….”
Metaphor simply doesn’t get much better than this, sloth, nor does definitive BBQ. You are indeed… alpha. I genuflect before your hanging branch.
Thanks, SF. Multiply this by a dozen such announcements/month and you begin to see what I’m talking about.
Believe it or not, my houseguest tonight is literally online with B.Bernanke’s daughter even as I type (a classmate at his alma mater.) I am soooo resisting the urge to guide the conversation from up here in my office loft.
Not sure how this got up here…supposed to be in response to SF’s Australia reference below.
Funny one, Bubba. And perfect.
If you have to ask, you’re not it
“So, before everyone starts freaking out about outsourcing and national identity– and Asian Hoardes turning the west coast into China’s Sudetenland– please try to keep in mind that with cultural melding comes a new cultural dynamic…and often a whole lot of money.”
Who gives a rats @ss about “a whole lot of money”? I sure as hell don’t.
Who gives a rats @ss about “a whole lot of money”? I sure as hell don’t.
Me neither. Enough is enough. Once you get past Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you got everything. After that if you have good, true friends and an interesting job and what you do matters and you can buy books for cheap?
Well, then, you can only skip around clapping joyously, right? Right.
“Those who are concerned that an army of “excess” Chinese males may soon resort to mayhem and invade our Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises, have missed the point –they already have invaded –and married our wimmins.”
The rich Chinese are coming!!!
I’ve seen zero evidence that this is some new trend. Sure, there are a few examples here and there, but nothing broad based. I think this is just a case of the author having a relative who happened to marry a Chinese man. CNBC was reporting on the REIT thing months ago. Big whoop.
You really are on cranky bear
arrgh,
That’s what I get for hitting the enter key before reading.
My post should read:
You really are one cranky bear
that’s funny
where I grew up if you told someone they were on cranky bear, they’d tell you it was some really good sh!t.
(crank: PMC for meth)
Wow, I just keep learning about fun stuff. Thanks x-philly
You’re right, I sure am. That’s why I’m “GrizzlyBear”, and not ‘TeddyBear’. This whole economic situation has left me feeling quite cynical. And, I’m particularly sensitive to this China horsesh!t, of which there is plenty in this post. We’ve lost over 8 million jobs this past year, yet the MSM is spouting nonsense about China leading some sort of economic recovery. It’s nothing but pure fantasy; perhaps a sick ruse to shear the last of the sheeple who invest in the scam market, or just another lie to keep hope alive for those tens of millions who find themselves without a pot to piss in. Yeah, I’m cranky.
“…China horseshit, of which there is plenty in this post….”
I have no dog in this fight, merely positing one possible explanation for a phenomenon that has some of us perplexed–namely the “shadow inventory” of unsold housing out there. You might want to save your ire for the program I referenced–which matches private investment (in this case from CIC,) then credits it with 6x that amount–all guaranteed by the FDIC.
We’re all trying to cope with the fallout from the last round of over-leveraged REIT’s; do we really want to start the cycle again with China?
Whether we like it or not, we’re a net debtor nation, and China holds a fair amount of that debt. How the US manages to circumvent the multi-trillion dollar obligation, (you don’t actually think we’re going to pay it back, do you?) is the Big Question here, and one that directly impacts our personal economic futures–as well as those of our counterparts in PRC.
“…(you don’t actually think we’re going to pay it back, do you?)…”
Are you referring to nominal dollar or real dollar repayment
Or did you mean to say “on crank”?
one cranky not on crank. Didn’t know what on crank meant until x-philly explained it to me
I’m doing the opposite. I’m in China now try to get back some of U.S. dollars being sent over. Seriously, the people here are ambitious. Everybody is looking to get into business and move up. Whether they all have the right plan or funding or follow-through is a different story. I’m patient though and can wait for the right opportunities before putting any money or effort into it.
In the meantime though, my living expense have dropped by 2/3rds so even doing nothing gets me farther ahead.
You live in China, doing nothing while looking for investment opportunities? I wasn’t aware that was possible. Give us some details–where? what’s your rent? can foreigners invest that directly in China? do you have some special status or situation?
Pretty easy:
Option #1: If you plan on living near Hong Kong (ie, Guangzhou area), you get a 6 month multiple entry L VISA. Every 30 days, take a train or ferry ride to Hong Kong, get an exit stamp and re-enter. (You can do the same with Macau.)
Option #2: Anybody Chinese national with an up-to-date ID card & house registry can “invite/sponsor” a foreigner to stay in China with them. 6 month VISA, no exit/re-entry but you don’t have to go to Hong Kong or Macau every 30 days.
Option #3: If you know somebody who runs a business (must be big enough to have a license & pay taxes), pay them a bit of cash (to cover their taxes) for them to “employ” you so you can get a 1 year VISA with unlimited exit/re-entry.
In terms of investing in real estate — before the runup to the Olympics, foreigners had to live in China for 1 year before they could buy property. With the big housing correction in China, those limits are gone. A foreigner can buy a single residential unit the moment they arrive in country now.
Investing in businesses is much riskier. Without family overseas, I would not take the risk. After all, if you’re back in the USA and the people managing your business decides to steal all the money and leave, what recourse do you have? It’s got to be the right business model where either cash/expensive inventory never hits China (e.g. businesses pay directly to your USA accounts) or the revenue stream is small but steady where employees will be happy to steal 10% of profits (par for the course) and leave 90% to you.
Cool. I wasn’t dissin’ you, just curious. Keep us posted, sounds interesting. What’s a nice 1br condo go for in your area?
I’m staying in Taishan — a city of 1M about 2 hours south from Guangzhou and 2 hours east of Macau.
750sf 1BD, $30K USD
1000sf 2BD, $40K
1500sf 3BD, $60K
These are prices for western-style gated communities with gardens, play areas, exercise yards, security, on-ground maintenance, etc.
If you live like a native, it’s 1/3rd the price. This would mean a single condo building — probably 20-30 years old and very weather-worn on the outside due to the constant monsoon rains — but often newly remodelled inside the units. No security — the residents probably leave the main building door unlocked for convenience.
As you get closer to Guangzhou/Hong Kong/Macau, the prices go up. In Jiangmen — at city of 3M an hour away from GZ/Macau — prices are 50% more. In the GZ suburbs, prices are 150% more. In downtown Guangzhou, it’s 300% more.
I’d like to hear more about your experiences over time, too. Please do keep us updated!
Thanks for posting about your situation.
I think if there’s a single article I’ve seen recently that demonstrates how off-kilter China’s economy is at the moment, it’s the following –
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aWyu1gOpqXQo
Copper Stockpiled by China’s Pig Farmers May Be Sold (Update2)
By Bloomberg News
Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) — Copper, nickel and other base metals stockpiled by speculative Chinese investors including pig farmers may be sold when “market sentiment turns,” said Scotia Capital Inc.
A price surge and easy bank credit this year encouraged pig farmers, stock brokers and businessmen to buy copper and nickel for speculation…
Thanks, Lionel. You and Grizzly present a nice counterpoint to the whole “let’s spread our legs for China, lay back, and enjoy it.”
LMAO!
You are being too polite.
Palmetto, of all the bubbles blown in the past decade or so, China is the biggest. When it pops, and that should be within the next year or so, the world will change.
What happens when there are no end users? POP!!!
Pigs are to China what industrial beef is to US. It’s a hugely powerful industry with significant political and economic clout.
It’s what’s for dinner!
Pigs are to China what industrial beef is to US.
Pig farming in some states (NC, for example) is a powerful entity in itself.
Whether the agro-heavies are beef, pigs, chicken, soy, or corn, they’re all inter-related, and any one of them can qualify as a “hugely powerful industry with significant political and economic clout” in a particular region.
As long as we are onto analogies, let me try my hand:
Chinese real estate investors are to California coastal real estate circa 2009 as California real estate investors were to Utah real estate circa 2003. When California’s bubble popped circa 2006, Utah’s housing market soon saw its prices deflating in an echo bust.
I fully expect the rapidly inflating Chinese real estate bubble to pop spectacularly over the next 1/2 decade, removing one of the few remaining props for California coastal real estate prices.
But then I am a professed bear.
But then the Indians will step in!
And the Koreans! And the Vietnamese!
The Asians are coming!! The Asians are coming!!!
And apparently their women are hot and their men aren’t! It’s good to be the king!
“China is the place for profit!”
Date: 2008-07-07
…In round figures, there are 1 billion pigs on our planet. About half of them are located in China. Only 5 years ago, China was looking to become a pig exporting nation. Now in 2008 it has become a major importer.
[snip]
…Rising food prices were the main contributor to this, up by 23% from a year earlier..
[snip]
Pork is the number one meat of cultural choice for Han Chinese, regularly accounting for 70% or more of the meat products eaten. Between 85-90% of the pig carcases produced are consumed as freshly slaughtered and butchered cuts…
[snip]
..Small backyard and family farms still form a large sector, probably 50-60% of production…
www dot pig-international.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=26252
Now replace China with Japan and we have the same stories we heard about in the 1980’s.
I doubt that 800 million people in poverty are as impressed with the urban “miracle” as those who line up to sell us out.
I woudn’t worry about any foreigners invading USA. As many of them come probably at the moment more are leaving and the worst is the highly educated are the one leaving to compensate for the one smugled thru the mexico border…
“Highly Educated, Highly Skilled Immigrant Workers Leaving U.S.: Brain Drain or Brain Gain?”
http://innovation.fleishmanhillard.com/?p=2443
From Dan’s link:
“According to a WashingtonPost.com article by Vivek Wadhwa, author of the Kauffman Foundation study, ‘when smart young foreigners leave (U.S.) shores, they take with them the seeds of tomorrow’s innovation.’”
————————
I disagree with this. We have MANY very talented, equally intelligent, and educated people who were born right here in the U.S. The problem was that they weren’t willing to work for the same low wages the immigrants were willing to accept.
Time for us to re-focus on building up our own from within. We need to allocate money toward new technologies and ideas…and away from Wall Street.
So the Chinese are willing to gamble, even when the odds are bad.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s familiar with the culture and the gambling industry. Something like +90% of Chinese visitors to the US are headed straight for Vegas.
The better bet, imo, is to legalize gambling on the Chinese mainland and, win or lose, keep the stupid-money confined within the borders..
ahansen,
Thought you might like this article. It was posted on Salon
Australia gives final approval to Chinese gas sale
http://tinyurl.com/m5t33d
Thanks, SF. My response to you posted above for some reason.
RIP Edward Kennedy.
A flawed human being who spent his life seeking redemption on behalf of the common man. He didn’t have to.
This was one of the best posts ever, ahansen. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Just a few months ago, I had mentioned to a friend that if I were Chinese, and holding lots of US dollars, I’d be off-loading dollars anywhere and everywhere possible — especially land and other commodities.
How difficult would it be to have a U.S. company (hedge fund or private equity, perhaps) be the front-man for some very wealthy and powerful Chinese interests? Out here in California, we are hearing all the time about these “all cash” deals. IMHO, for the most part, it’s either drug money, or foreign holders of dollars buying up anything that might be considered valuable.
In the areas around here that are heavily Chinese, the prices have barely dropped — if at all. Multiple generations of families are coming over and buying RE hand over fist. Just anecdotal, but still…
And another…
Anecdotally, my Chinese friends are reporting that after decades of Chinese friends/family wanting US dollars when their relatives from the U.S. visit, nobody in China wants to trade for dollars anymore. They think it’s going to be worthless.
Culturally, the Chinese seem to **really like** real estate. My friends told me that their word/symbol for the United States loosely translates into “beautiful country” or something like that.
Boy, there sure is nothing new under the sun.
Back around 1991-1992 I was renting a house in Seattle with 2 roommates.
One of my roommates was a real estate agent who worked FULL TIME for aTaiwanese religious order (they were monks of some sort) who were buying up real estate around Seattle. Mostly single family houses scattered around the Puget Sound region but also some commercial and apartments I think.
It was all somewhat mysterious but he was certainly making a good living at it.
Fareed Zakaria wrote in a recent Newsweek article that “our (US) spending is currently equal to the entire economies of India and China added together and then doubled.” - p.20, Newsweek, August 10 and 17, 2009
Data point.
Not sure of the implications.
Ahansen,
History repeats itself and the Chinese is duplicating the same dream and horror of what the Japanese did in the Seventies and Eighties of the last Century given their easily- earned money from the property bubble especially in Tokyo. What the Japanese didn’t realise is that their easily earned money is just bubble money and would fizzle out so quickly once that real estate bubble burst.
It is evident that many of the toxic MBS, SIVs of the commercial as well as investment banks in the U.S. have been touched up, securitized and sold to the many SWFs of China and that could be one of the major reasons China keep on buying bonds, treasurys from the U.S. to make sure the dollar could hold and do not devalue. I am afraid the asset bubble of China ( no matter it is asset bubbles in the U.S. or that in China ) would soon burst and when it bursts, I am afraid China would face a hell of a problem including the devaluation of the Yuan, the devaluation of properties in China, devaluation of other assets all over China as well as the devaulation of the dollar as well as the second wave of the burst of the asset price bubble in the U.S., which would spread all over the world. Watch the signal if China has to increase its interest rates in the short term or the abandonment of the treasurys from the U.S. and if that happens, it could mean the time has come.
The Chinese have incredible business strategies that are often effective if not pleasant. Thanks for the information in your article.
hmm…
Rather than wealth, perhaps the most appealing aspect of owning property in the US is living in the US. Or perhaps it is our property rights. It is good for Americans that others desire to own US property.
Foreigners that want to live in the US, send their children to US schools, learn English, use the dollar—are wonderful things for Americans.
Perhaps the genesis of the American spirit of innovation and dirty invention is found in the same kernel that sprung our unique system of government, and ultimately our unique culture and way of life. Were I to hope to see any improvement from our financial and governmental leaders it would be to promote liberty (this implies that fiscal response is ultimately technical). Should living in the US become less desirable, then we would be in a jam–no access to the great electronic gold mine in the sky.
Strange as it sounds, my intuition is that our liberty is more valuable–in terms of money–than we understand, and economic brinksmanship less so. But intuition is a devious mistress…
Let me report my experiences on the front lines of California real estate here in Silicon Valley.
Now that prices seemed to come more in line with real incomes, it looked like time to buy. The FHA 3.5% down program is a big help. I’m looking for a modest 3/2 with good schools in San Jose - call it lower middle tier.
Every open house I attend has mostly Asians, few speaking English. Of the 9 offers I’ve made, all over asking, all have been either beat out by an all-cash offer or the bank has withdrawn the listing.
I see with my own eyes the foreign money flowing in to California real estate. Why? It is easy to predict that the dollar is going to inflate and badly. The motivations of the buyers is not so much to seek a profit as to shelter their cash.
This deal about US-government organized, backed, and guaranteed REITs is VERY depressing. I’ve often said that the priority is not the poor schmucks owning property but the integrity of the US banking system.