Chinese Economic Disaster - How Will That Affect US?

Quite a lot, apparently.

The real estate market in China is THIRTY PERCENT of their GDP (Gross Domestic Product). That's HUGE. For comparison, the housing meltdown that was explained in The Big Short composed considerably less of our total economy. Currently, the real estate industry is a smidge over 22% of the GDP in the United States.

And, that is not including the heavy investment of the Chinese government into EVERY facet of the economy. It's safe to say that the margin of error is razor-thin in China - they cannot afford a meltdown of 1/3 of their economy.

The Chinese economy has, for some time, been heavily dependent on exports to the USA and other countries. They depend on the regular payments to keep their country afloat. The economic contraction of COVID was short, and largely offset by the boom China experienced when other 1st World economies cratered.

As so much of the stuff delivered by Amazon was from China, you might even say that they boosted their economy, while delivering a death blow to many American industries.

I was never all that terrified about the "sudden death" propaganda that was coming out in the early days of the COVID Terror. Sudden collapse in the streets? ONLY happened in China, and - amazingly - always seemed to be caught on camera.

But, the death rate, as measured by cremations, didn't fall in line with the scary reports. They just were not losing population in the numbers suggested by the reports. All of which makes me conclude that the virulence of COVID was largely a hoax. Except for the elderly and medically fragile, it was no more than a bad year's flu.

But, back to the Chinese economy. At the above link, one of the commenters posted a staggering statistic:

"To put things into perspective – Real Estate in the USA is worth about the sum total of the entire economy. Western European Real estate is worth about 1.2 times their entire economy.

Real Estate in China is valued at 12 TIMES the entire Chinese economy.

Their subprime collapse is literally going to be at a level that has never been scene in the history of the planet."

I knew that the Chinese Real Estate was overpriced, but this is at a level that will CRUSH China. I would not be surprised at a revolution (because, given that level of a cash flow crisis, there are going to be a LOT of unemployed government functionaries, including their military).

What does that mean for us?

Well, for a while, you are going to have trouble getting your high-tech toys (actual toys, as well as adult gadgets). Vehicle repairs are going to suffer, as will production of new cars, trucks, and farm and industrial equipment.

However, Americans are pretty handy, and I expect that - with a little Redneck engineering - they will manage to bypass the e-sensors and chip control of their vehicles. That will go a long way towards offsetting the damage caused by Chinese collapse.

India and other nearby economies will pick up some of the slack. American companies SHOULD take advantage of this to 'Build Back Better', but I would bet against that, given the hostile forces that have taken over the Federal government.

We will lose a major market for our food, but - what the hell - the world is filled with hungry people. We'll do all right, and should be able to ship overland to American markets with little difficulty. It will cost more, but we can pick up the slack and keep Americans eating 3 squares a day.

I saw this, and just HAD to add a link. Sometimes, I'm still surprised at how Incredibly Stupid people can be.

How about a new animation flick - The Incredibly Stoopids?