Jeffrey Wasserstrom made the interesting point on Lex Fridman’s podcast that for political reasons China settled into an equilibrium of building too much while the US settled into one of building too little. In China it’s kickbacks and building with credit and selling homes that don’t exist. In the US it’s NIMBYs and environmentalism and austerity politics and everything bagel liberalism.
My hope is that people who believe government should work make it work better for more of us. In tech we are pretty clearly the beneficiaries of government investment and R&D.
I Think there are two typically causes: 1.Developers often acquire land in remote rural areas to build housing projects, anticipating urban expansion that would drive up property values. However, China's urbanization has largely reached its limit, making further expansion unlikely. 2.Some developers construct properties on leased land without securing proper ownership titles. If full property rights aren't obtained before sales commence, these units become unsellable and are eventually abandoned, as buyers avoid legally precarious investments.
mikestew•1h ago