Disagree on Kosko's China analysis
Keep in mind we are already starting to see the deterioration of a lot of those buildings due to the weak construction/design standards and rampant corruption. Incidents like the Wenzhou train collusion don't inspire much confidence either.
I don't believe it's a factor of long term military strategy but rather the reverberations from tons of local officials needing to meet targets for GDP growth. The easiest way to do this and employ many poor young men is through construction, as it adds to GDP and shows tangible "progress".
There is also less opportunity and transparency for investing in financial markets for the wealthier Chinese citizens. With more of a cultural focus on housing, it's easy to see why people have bought additional properties at home (even though they don't technically own them) and abroad (i.e. Vancouver, Toronto).
Also, a lot of this internal mis-allocation of capital is common in "emerging" markets experiencing large inflows, and even more so in those with corruption issues, or communist leanings. The Chinese government has serious concerns about inflation, and it's no surprise that they are recording huge spikes in the number of "mass incidents" (translation: riots, protests, etc.)
Though I'm not one to dwell on too much academic research when it comes to current markets, one interesting paper reported that for any country to get above a certain level of income per capita it had to allow it's citizens more freedoms, similar to the West.
This is another reason why I would not be surprised if we saw very unexpected changes in leadership or full scale Arab Spring style revolts in China and Saudi Arabia over the next 5-10 years unless the rulers offer more opportunities and rights for their citizens.
Keep in mind we are already starting to see the deterioration of a lot of those buildings due to the weak construction/design standards and rampant corruption. Incidents like the Wenzhou train collusion don't inspire much confidence either.
I don't believe it's a factor of long term military strategy but rather the reverberations from tons of local officials needing to meet targets for GDP growth. The easiest way to do this and employ many poor young men is through construction, as it adds to GDP and shows tangible "progress".
There is also less opportunity and transparency for investing in financial markets for the wealthier Chinese citizens. With more of a cultural focus on housing, it's easy to see why people have bought additional properties at home (even though they don't technically own them) and abroad (i.e. Vancouver, Toronto).
Also, a lot of this internal mis-allocation of capital is common in "emerging" markets experiencing large inflows, and even more so in those with corruption issues, or communist leanings. The Chinese government has serious concerns about inflation, and it's no surprise that they are recording huge spikes in the number of "mass incidents" (translation: riots, protests, etc.)
Though I'm not one to dwell on too much academic research when it comes to current markets, one interesting paper reported that for any country to get above a certain level of income per capita it had to allow it's citizens more freedoms, similar to the West.
This is another reason why I would not be surprised if we saw very unexpected changes in leadership or full scale Arab Spring style revolts in China and Saudi Arabia over the next 5-10 years unless the rulers offer more opportunities and rights for their citizens.