Concrete

Loughton_Monkey

kabayiri wrote: »

Concrete releases a lot of heat when setting.

So now we know who is responsible for global warming

Actually, it seems a benign substance. Far from it.

Workers take care!

(Not that worker safety is a particular concern over there...)

So that odious Natalie Bennet from the greens is going to build her 600,000 homes from plywood after all!

ging84

Concrete releases about as much heat as it might take to heat the building for a couple of hours, probably not even that.

Loughton_Monkey

ging84 wrote: »

Concrete releases about as much heat as it might take to heat the building for a couple of hours, probably not even that.

Well your previous post led me to believe that concrete was a significant factor in global warming.

As someone who passionately wants the globe to warm up, I was beginning to rely on building solving the problem.

This country desperately needs long hot summers. About an extra 7 or 8 degrees on average during the summer months. Maybe we should get more cows.

cells

Generali wrote: »

Well perhaps the beginning of the end is next year. The demographic impacts of the one child family are going to start to hit: the population will start to age and decline from then on.

I think it's likely (and the Chinese Premier agrees with me) that growth will start to slow significantly but where we go from here is interesting.

So far we've had an investment led growth in the Chinese economy. As an example, GDP per head is almost $7,000 but average incomes are about $5,000. Any transition from investment led growth to growth via other means (increased consumption, increased exports or increased Government spending) is likely to be fraught with problems for various reasons.

However, if we look back in history China not being the largest economy in the world is an exception rather than the norm. If China continues to grow, this time it's not different.

if you were lost on an island all by yourself your first port of call would be food.... then shelter...... only long after you had been there would you have gotten those things out of the way (build a hut and got good at hunting/gathering/growing). Once you take care of them you will have the time for other things like panting your toenails or building yourself a boat or thinking about philosophy

in crude terms that is an economy.
3rd world being at the subsistence food level
2nd world being at the sorting your house out level
1st world being service sector dominated

Currently the Chinese are still sorting out their homes...literally...by building 15 million a year

Once that is mostly done and out of the way they can afford to become a first world nation of services and consumer consumption. That will be in about 15 years time

Thrugelmir

londonTiger wrote: »

but vast majority live in cities and wood houses are too dangerous.

That's why hurricane season isn't good in Florida. Shanty housing areas of Miami in particular are primarily wooden.

kabayiri

ging84 wrote: »

Concrete releases about as much heat as it might take to heat the building for a couple of hours, probably not even that.

Damn, you have undermined my argument to concrete over Britain as a way of reducing energy bills

kabayiri

Fundamentally, are Chinese consumers any less aspirational than their Western counterparts?

I doubt it. The desire for upmarket Western cars and property illustrates this.

How do you manage aspiration on a gigantic scale though? Is it enough to have a roof over your head and food in your stomach when your contribution is 6 days at 12 hours+ work a day.

Generali

kabayiri wrote: »

Fundamentally, are Chinese consumers any less aspirational than their Western counterparts?

I doubt it. The desire for upmarket Western cars and property illustrates this.

How do you manage aspiration on a gigantic scale though? Is it enough to have a roof over your head and food in your stomach when your contribution is 6 days at 12 hours+ work a day.

That's where anchoring comes in.

If you were raised in a earth floored house in rural China then earning $5,000 a year in a factory as a foreman is pretty aspirational. If you were raised by a factory foreman earning $5,000 a year that's probably the minimum you expect.