This 30 minute interview provides an interesting perspective on China from Mr. “1,000 times worse than Dubai” himself.

One thing Jim sort of glosses over is the down payment problem in China. Bubble skeptics cite the fact that Chinese homebuyers are putting down 20%. In the US, people were putting down 0% at the height of the bubble. While he mentions the average income vs the average home price, Jim fails to mention the average savings. If you look at the average savings and the anecdotal evidence coming out of China, you’ll find that people aren’t just depleting their savings for their first home, they are also depleting the savings of their parents and grandparents. Obviously you can’t spend three generations worth of savings to buy any asset forever. Eventually, the savings of the buying generation must suffice. Stock and flow. This is yet another form of implicit leverage in the Chinese housing bubble.

(via Credit Bubble Stocks)