Just listened to Dan Wang's latest China trip debrief — always worth your time.
Shanghai's still building like crazy, but the consumer picture remains weak. The contradiction is striking: massive infrastructure boom, but people aren't spending. Phone culture dominates everything. Domestic life feels increasingly disconnected from the official growth story.
China's economy right now is less about the headline GDP number and more about these ground-level disconnects. Capital flowing into steel and concrete while households sit on their wallets tells you something about confidence — or lack thereof.
If you're trying to understand where global demand actually is (or isn't), this kind of boots-on-the-ground perspective beats 90% of the macro research notes flooding your inbox.
Shanghai's still building like crazy, but the consumer picture remains weak. The contradiction is striking: massive infrastructure boom, but people aren't spending. Phone culture dominates everything. Domestic life feels increasingly disconnected from the official growth story.
China's economy right now is less about the headline GDP number and more about these ground-level disconnects. Capital flowing into steel and concrete while households sit on their wallets tells you something about confidence — or lack thereof.
If you're trying to understand where global demand actually is (or isn't), this kind of boots-on-the-ground perspective beats 90% of the macro research notes flooding your inbox.