http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/discovery-channel-presents-a-look,427555.shtml China's streets have gone from being jammed with bicycles to being jammed with cars. The nation is adding 25,000 new vehicles to its roads every day --that's more than 9 million a year -- and the government is building tens of thousands of miles of new highways. As millions of new drivers hit the road, this newfound freedom is bringing more accidents, more traffic, and more pollution. China will soon become the world's largest producer of cars as well as the biggest market for new cars. Foreign automakers like GM and Ford are already enjoying huge success in China -- today, more Buicks are sold in China than in the U.S. Meanwhile, Chinese automakers are planning an assault on the U.S. market with low-cost cars, and they hope to be in American showrooms as early as next year.
I was wrong about 400 million over next 10 years. Its 150 million farmers. By 2050 a total of 600 million will move to cities. Urbanization: China is the 4th largest country in land area, after Russia, Canada and the U.S. Of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, 16 are in China according to the World Bank. 45 cities in China already have more than 1 million residents. In 1950, the urban population represented less than 13% of the total population; today the figure is 40%; it is expected to reach 60% by 2030. As Chinaâs urban centers boom they are gobbling up farmland at a voracious pace: a total of 16 million acres of farmland have gone to urbanization in the past 20 years. In the past two decades, around 200 million Chinese have moved from the countryside to towns and cities; a staggering additional 600 million are expected to do so by 2050. Over the next 10 years an estimated 150 million farmers will move to cities looking for work Chinaâs urban population will reach 1.12 billion by 2050. 90% of the raw sewage produced in Chinese cities each year is dumped straight into rivers and lakes; 10,000 wastewater treatment plants, costing US$ 48 billion, would be needed to achieve a 50% treatment rate. Groundwater is now contaminated in about 90% of Chinaâs cities. From 1953 to 2003, while Chinaâs total population âonlyâ doubled, the percentage of its population that is urban tripled. Some 400 of Chinaâs largest cities are short of water and the incidence of rationing is growing; some 550 cities are expected to be water short by 2020. People in only a third of 340 monitored cities breath air that meets national air quality standards, which are below WHO norms. About 50 cities in China report sinking ground (subsidence) due to groundwater overuse; Shanghai, for example, has dropped 2 meters since 1990. Everyday, 1000 new cars and 500 used ones are sold in Beijing; congestion is growing exponentially. China has designated 10 âmodel environmental citiesâ and master planning for these is proceeding very dynamically. http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/2007/Labs/China Facts and Trends (2007%20edition).htm
Amazing trading strategy: instead of profiting from the bull market of a lifetime by going long, instead go short and repeatedly try to top-pick despite insanely strong fundamentals and technicals. If you find yourself losing money hand over fist, just post every day on Elitetrader that the price is manipulated!
Thank you. Ok, we're effed! Now, where's my hong-kong book of kung-foo. Seriously, have you ever been in the car with a Chinese driver? I have, several times. Let me tell you, its not a pleasant experience.
That would be S2007S in a "NUTshell." Insanely bearish on the stockmarket, but short oil and long the financials. Go figure.