china has 12 ghost cities

[Eugene]

[quote=sdduuuude]I know many are bullish on China these days, but I can’t help but wonder if their long-term prognosis looks very similar to that of the former Soviet Union.

The thing about centralized planning is – if you make a mistake, you affect billions of people all at once and it doesn’t make them happy. China seems destined for some social unrest in the long term.[/quote]

Take it from someone who did live in the Soviet Union (however briefly). Modern China is nowhere like the Soviet Union.

Unlike the Soviet Union, China does not attempt to regulate its subjects’ lives anywhere near as finely. In fact, I don’t even think that modern China truly qualifies as a communist state. It’s more of a semi-capitalist dictatorship.

For example, in the Soviet Union prior to 1985, private enterprise was banned and punishable by jail time. You could go to jail for something as simple as buying a pair of jeans from an American tourist and then reselling them for profit to your neighbor. 99% of the stuff we see here with the “Made in China” label is made by private companies with only minimal government oversight.

The scope of possible mistakes in the Chinese system is vastly narrower than that in the USSR, and there’s a legally permitted mechanism to correct these mistakes.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=patb]
when were you out in the hills?

i know the water pollution is awful and the air pollution makes most of the air unbreathable.

[/quote]

Pat: I was working on several large industrial seismic retrofit projects (due to the crappy original build by the Chinese).

Three Gorges Dam is an excellent example of China’s schizophrenic nature. While I understand the reasoning behind it, the project was and is a disaster. Talk to any American or European engineer that is familiar with that project and they’ll confirm this. They spent nearly $25Bn on this thing and I’ve heard Chinese engineers admit privately they fear for its structural integrity during one of China’s infamous “Hundred Year Floods”.

Its a mess and it ain’t getting better. Its getting worse.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=patb]
when were you out in the hills?

i know the water pollution is awful and the air pollution makes most of the air unbreathable.

[/quote]

Pat: I was working on several large industrial seismic retrofit projects (due to the crappy original build by the Chinese).

Three Gorges Dam is an excellent example of China’s schizophrenic nature. While I understand the reasoning behind it, the project was and is a disaster. Talk to any American or European engineer that is familiar with that project and they’ll confirm this. They spent nearly $25Bn on this thing and I’ve heard Chinese engineers admit privately they fear for its structural integrity during one of China’s infamous “Hundred Year Floods”.

Its a mess and it ain’t getting better. Its getting worse.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=patb]
when were you out in the hills?

i know the water pollution is awful and the air pollution makes most of the air unbreathable.

[/quote]

Pat: I was working on several large industrial seismic retrofit projects (due to the crappy original build by the Chinese).

Three Gorges Dam is an excellent example of China’s schizophrenic nature. While I understand the reasoning behind it, the project was and is a disaster. Talk to any American or European engineer that is familiar with that project and they’ll confirm this. They spent nearly $25Bn on this thing and I’ve heard Chinese engineers admit privately they fear for its structural integrity during one of China’s infamous “Hundred Year Floods”.

Its a mess and it ain’t getting better. Its getting worse.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=patb]
when were you out in the hills?

i know the water pollution is awful and the air pollution makes most of the air unbreathable.

[/quote]

Pat: I was working on several large industrial seismic retrofit projects (due to the crappy original build by the Chinese).

Three Gorges Dam is an excellent example of China’s schizophrenic nature. While I understand the reasoning behind it, the project was and is a disaster. Talk to any American or European engineer that is familiar with that project and they’ll confirm this. They spent nearly $25Bn on this thing and I’ve heard Chinese engineers admit privately they fear for its structural integrity during one of China’s infamous “Hundred Year Floods”.

Its a mess and it ain’t getting better. Its getting worse.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=patb]
when were you out in the hills?

i know the water pollution is awful and the air pollution makes most of the air unbreathable.

[/quote]

Pat: I was working on several large industrial seismic retrofit projects (due to the crappy original build by the Chinese).

Three Gorges Dam is an excellent example of China’s schizophrenic nature. While I understand the reasoning behind it, the project was and is a disaster. Talk to any American or European engineer that is familiar with that project and they’ll confirm this. They spent nearly $25Bn on this thing and I’ve heard Chinese engineers admit privately they fear for its structural integrity during one of China’s infamous “Hundred Year Floods”.

Its a mess and it ain’t getting better. Its getting worse.

[patb]

I imagine a lot of public projects the chinese steal the materials or budget.

I know a chinese airline consumes 10% the parts a US airline does because they just skip inspections.

Works okay when the planes are new, but god help you as these get older.

[patb]

I imagine a lot of public projects the chinese steal the materials or budget.

I know a chinese airline consumes 10% the parts a US airline does because they just skip inspections.

Works okay when the planes are new, but god help you as these get older.

[patb]

I imagine a lot of public projects the chinese steal the materials or budget.

I know a chinese airline consumes 10% the parts a US airline does because they just skip inspections.

Works okay when the planes are new, but god help you as these get older.

[patb]

I imagine a lot of public projects the chinese steal the materials or budget.

I know a chinese airline consumes 10% the parts a US airline does because they just skip inspections.

Works okay when the planes are new, but god help you as these get older.

[patb]

I imagine a lot of public projects the chinese steal the materials or budget.

I know a chinese airline consumes 10% the parts a US airline does because they just skip inspections.

Works okay when the planes are new, but god help you as these get older.

[patb]

I imagine a lot of public projects the chinese steal the materials or budget.

I know a chinese airline consumes 10% the parts a US airline does because they just skip inspections.

Works okay when the planes are new, but god help you as these get older.

[patb]

I imagine a lot of public projects the chinese steal the materials or budget.

I know a chinese airline consumes 10% the parts a US airline does because they just skip inspections.

Works okay when the planes are new, but god help you as these get older.

[patb]

I imagine a lot of public projects the chinese steal the materials or budget.

I know a chinese airline consumes 10% the parts a US airline does because they just skip inspections.

Works okay when the planes are new, but god help you as these get older.

[patb]

I imagine a lot of public projects the chinese steal the materials or budget.

I know a chinese airline consumes 10% the parts a US airline does because they just skip inspections.

Works okay when the planes are new, but god help you as these get older.

[Author]

Posts