Update on Austro-Chinese business cycle theory

Here is David Ignatius:

My favorite analyst of bubble economies is David M. Smick, who predicted the U.S. financial mess in his book "The World Is Curved." He notes some worrying statistics: Until the global financial crisis, Chinese exports represented 43 percent of its gross domestic product. To make up for collapsing foreign demand once the recession hit in 2009, China launched a $1.8 trillion stimulus and lending program — amounting to about 38 percent of its GDP. This money was supposed to reach consumers, but Smick estimates that 85 percent of the subsidized loans went to state-run companies and banks — pumping the investment bubble even larger.

Here is from the FT:

Prices of commercial and residential property in China’s 70 largest cities rose by 10.7 per cent in February from the same period a year earlier, a marked increase from the 9.5 per cent year-on-year gain in January, according to China’s statistics bureau.

I believe that in a time when the U.S. fiscal stimulus is under political fire, many American economists have been reluctant to criticize the Chinese program and send a potentially mixed message. 

On a separate but related note, here is a piece on forthcoming rural migration in China.

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