The Macroeconomics of Chinese kleptocracy
There are a lot of things I don't understand about China's economy, and every time I think I might have a handle on it, I come across juicy tidbits like these ones:* The ghost city of Ordos.  Built on spec for one million residents, this city sits empty in the middle of nowhere. A lot of money went into building all its plazas, museums, parks, office buildings, and residences, but no one needs or uses any of it.[1]* The New South China Mall, in Guangdong Province.  With nearly 10 million square feet of retail space, it's by far the world's largest mall.  Opened in 2005, almost no one ever visits it, and only around 1% of the retail space has been leased -- it just sits empty.  A lot of money went into building it, but no one needs or uses it.[2]* A well-known hedge fund manager recently reported that China is building "2.8 billion square metres of Class A office space over the following couple of years...  That’s basically a five-foot by five-foot office cubicle for every man, woman and child in China.” A lot of money is going into building a new cubicle for everyone, but what's the economic rationale?[3][1] Here's a recent BBC article on it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17390729 and a great photo essay in Time: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1975397,00.htm...[2] Here's a recent video of the mall on a Saturday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eel1r1nm1lU and here's an article about it: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223747/Ghost-mall-T...[3] For example, see http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazi...