Deflation In China And Kidney Stones Caused By Climate Change

Inflation in China is basically zero. The guys talked a bit about inflation and how it is like "simmering a nice sauce." Also, kidney stones possibly caused by climate change? Why not. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Couple of things, just to mention very quickly, Well, we're
fighting inflation as hard as we can in the Western world,
trying to choke off our economies. Deflation is threatening China.
Their inflation rate is now zero after two months of
barely any starring fears among economists and investors that the
world's second largest economy is on the verge of slipping

(00:21):
into deflation. So if you're not inflation at zero is bad.
I think most of us would think zero inflation would
be awesome. That's not you know that. No, the problem
is deflation. If you tip into deflation, then it's investments
go away, there's nothing to invest in. Everybody holds off
on spending because it's going to be cheaper next week anyway,
and it causes a deflationary spiral that tends to crush economies.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
So that's why they try to keep it at two percent. Yeah,
that's the goal here, and that's what it has been
most of my adult life.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Right. It's like simmering a sauce. I know you're very
much into the culinary arts, Jack. That's hilarious, simmering sauce
at exactly the right temperature. But the data is the
latest evidence of the twin toll on the Chinese economy
of a stalled post reopening recovery and interest rate hikes
by central banks in the West. Broad declining prices will

(01:13):
weigh on an already fragile confidence in the country. They
mentioned the terrible state of the real estate market in China,
and the real estate market is a huge percentage of
their economy. So again the whole narrative of the great
Chinese juggernaut. They'll soon rule the world, their economy will
tower a bave all others. You combine that stuff with
their demographic problems, it's just not true. They're a huge economy,

(01:36):
but they're not a juggernaut.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, how about this stat I just saw in Edin
Bremer's Twitter feed. Twenty one percent of Chinese sixteen to
twenty four year olds are unemployed. So their youth, which
is though, which is the beginning of like every revolution
that has happened in the history of the world, is
unemployed young men, particularly, but unemployed young people. So one

(01:57):
out of five young Chinese people are un employed, largest
percentage since they started keeping track. And you know, a
whole bunch of people are poor and unemployed and unhappy
things get ugly.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
If I'm an unemployed young man, I'm frustrated. I'm probably
a little angry, but at least I got a baby
to keep me company. I got my girlfriend. Oh that's right.
There are no women in China either, so the dudes
are merely angry and alone, which is, you may recall,
my crackpot theory is that might make it slightly more

(02:32):
likely that China goes after Taiwan because they figure, hey,
got if he's a million. Now that's not my point,
although I don't know are there demographically speaking, is that
they're thinking, well, a million men could be killed, but
we got like five million extra men.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Anyway, that's cynical, But Communist Party is cynical.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Speaking of girls, more kidney stones being observed in young women,
and they're trying to blame it on climate change, because
of course they are