For anyone who thinks China is destined to take over the world, they had better think again. In a shocking series of reports for 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl reveals how China is sitting on a real estate bubble the likes of which we have never seen in history. When it explodes — which nearly every real estate expert aware of the situation believes will happen — the consequences for the Chinese economy will be nearly unimaginable. Chinese citizens, who are just now beginning to invest their money, are forced to do it in only one place — real estate. This is how the Chinese government has dipped their baby toe into capitalism, and because they have screwed it up so badly, when this bubble blows it will produce a blast that will be heard around the world and will take a lifetime for the shockwaves to dissipate. Adding to this is the fact that the Chinese economy is gradually losing their prime asset — cheap human workers. These inexpensive workers are being replaced at an accelerated pace by automated robots, and you can watch Steve Kroft’s entire fascinating report below which covers a wide range of topics including the ominous HAL from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
