patrick.net

It's true for Chinese people with money. When there's 1.3-1.4 billion of them in the world, you'l have a few dozen million who'll pay top dollar whether it's warranted or not.

? it's not a cultural thing, no.

Given their screwed up semi-command economy, Chinese don't have anywhere safe to put their money other than real estate.

http://www.economist.com/node/18560729

I don't know anything about China really -- the closest I've been there is a night in Seoul 20-odd years ago -- but I do suspect China is going to continue to see simply massive inflation this decade and next, making real estate there a very safe buy.

They do have 1.35 billion people to house, and their wages are still ~1/5th the global standard for a first-world nation.

The yuan returning to where it was in the 1980s:

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/AEXCHUS

would make the Chinese a lot wealthier internally.

Bellingham has it right and in addition within the society there exists the idea that men buy homes before getting married. It is not like a couple gets together and then gets married and then gets a house.

Since the dowery system favors men there's this "lost girls" amount. So you do see a pent up demand to buy houses just to get a wife.

Yes, Chinese Men buy a homes before they get married, that has always happened. [edit, thats a new phenomenon, back then they get married and the bride moves in with the family] Regardless, When the do get married, the newlyweds are supposed to move into the house and start a family. They don't sit empty like they do now.

They have nothing to put towards with their money? How about investing in real companies? How about starting new companies that actually produce things? They fact that they are putting a huge % of their GDP towards dead overpriced assets can only lead to one thing.

burritos says

It's true for Chinese people with money. When there's 1.3-1.4 billion of them in the world, you'l have a few dozen million who'll pay top dollar whether it's warranted or not.

Yes there are dumb rich people in Beijing and Shanghai, just like they are dumb rich people in Fla, CA and Las Vegas. Why are the Chinese immune from that? A huge majority of the billions of peasants are dirt poor and have no way of ever hope to live in those luxury homes.

China's customers (US Europe and Japan) are all in a slump. What makes you think their salaries are going to catch up to the prices any time soon?

In the global market, as soon as the salaries raise by a significant amount, manufacturing gets moved to a lower priced region...

The average Chinese person who has to work for a living is very aware of the complete and utter absurdity of their mega bubble back home. I truly doubt any of them would buy houses here either given a look at the market and its history.

You see most of these people that are getting pointed at for propping up the bubble here are not normal Chinese (in the cases they actually are from china).

They are either the mega rich with more money than brains, or the spoiled one child policy brats whose middle class parents blood and sweat left them a good inheritance. You know, just like the stupid American boomers and gen Xs who paid cash at the height of the bubble.

Danaseb says

They are either the mega rich with more money than brains, or the spoiled one child policy brats whose middle class parents blood and sweat left them a good inheritance. You know, just like the stupid American boomers and gen Xs who paid cash at the height of the bubble.

That's why, the best thing we can do for our kids, is to NOT send them to the public K-12's with those folks' kids.

Most of my Asian friends are engineers. They work harder than 90% of american admin and arts majors.

Most of my Asian friends can talk about electron mobility, history, culture, and economics.

Americans eat whitebread and get degrees in liberal arts.

It happened. This is reality.

Most of my Chinese friends are engineers or scientists. They save their money.

They can talk about art, electron mobility, culture, economics.

They actually build things.

Contrast that to 90% of Americans who are admin or art educated. They are dumb, think engineers are geeks.

Chinese are going to own the US and Obama is going to see to it. Mandatory Mandarin lessons will be paid for by Obama, the Keynsian Economic Genius.

Entitlemented says

engineers or scientists

most of my coworkers are like your friends, scientists and engineers. Live in The Fortress and the younger ones of those, and even some of the not-so-younger of them, hocked to their eyeballs for The Privilege.
The Rest of Us, "locals", who happen to be in the minority, live in more modest locations with more modest K-12 API's, not so hocked up to our eyeballs. And at least, inside of our own minds, we don't lose our faces for our kids not attending top-tier API K-12.

Entitlemented says

person who has to work for a living is very aware of the complete and utter absurdity of their mega bubble back home. I truly doubt any of them would buy houses here either given a look at the market and its history.

You see most of these people that are getting pointed at for propping up the bubb

your chinese engineer friends here, are Americans.
Yes they save their money, just like other hard working American Engineer friends.

Obama didn't do anything to help China becoming the power it is, it was Clinton. lets not turn this to yet another "Obama is the anti-christ Muslim terrist Kenyen communist thread."

Serpentor says

When people say "its part of the Chinese Culture" to buy up overpriced houses (whether its in China or Cupertino) my internal BS flag starts waving.

We are a Nation of talking out of our Ass,
and even a bigger Nation of taking that Bullshit to the bank as a fact.

Like people running round putting a number and a "Percenter" after it, they have idea what that even means, let alone the actual financial quantization they fit in.

I've got nothing but respect and admiration for what China has accomplished in the last 10 years. Of course our Government loves the misinformation and views we have of China, because if the American people really stopped to think about who to blame over their predicament. It wouldn't be those lil slant eye'd Bastards on the other side of the wold, it would be those crooked Sons of Bitches in Washington.

The GOP says

I've got nothing but respect and admiration for what China has accomplished in the last 10 years. Of course our Government loves the misinformation and views we have of China, because if the American people really stopped to think about who to blame over their predicament. It wouldn't be those lil slant eye'd Bastards on the other side of the wold, it would be those crooked Sons of Bitches in Washington.

If you ever took the time to listen to us 99%, we are in total agreement with you. We are blaming the Sons of Bitches in DC AND NYC. We do not have a beef with China. The only peripheral involvement of China is that we DO blame DC and WS for moving all their operations over to China to take advantage of the dirt cheap labor (smart and understandable) but pay little to ZERO taxes here in the USA for these massive profit gains. This is all made possible by the "SOBs" in DC. This is what the 99% are pissed off about and yes we UNDERSTAND EXACTLY what is and what has been going on.

I forget how many percents are there?

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/26/news/economy/occupy_wall_street_backlash/index.htm?iid=Lead

It seems to me there's a shit load of people doing the talking for a large proportion of folks that didn't ask them to.
One thing for certain, 99% of people in this country aren't in the parks protesting random thoughts.

But at the same time, I don't get how the mainstream media, calls one asshole with a sign on Youtube 53% either.

We're in deep shit, and I don't see how the directionless dolts in the park are going to do anything to fix that.

One thing for certain 153% percent of the people in this country are confused.
99% in the parks
and the 54% at their desk at 2 am with a sharpie and dry erase board.

BubbaE says

Most of my Asian friends can talk about electron mobility, history, culture, and economics.

We talk about it too, we just talk about the filtered distractions that are handed to us to chew on and argue about.

If you dare to have your own thoughts or opinions, that didn't come from directly form a Blog, or a Political talking head, then it's written off.
I think the major difference in Us now, and Us then.
When we used to discuss politics, we discussed how it effects us, and our own thoughts about it.

Now it's the lyrics of a favorite Pop song, if you're not lip syncing to the candidate of choice then you're singing the wrong song.