TROUBLE AHEAD? In China, Empty Malls.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

I have lived in China for nine years now. I can tell you from personal experience and numerous exchanges with civil servants, entrepreneurs, and regular Chinese that China’s “economic miracle” is anything but miraculous; In fact, it is little more than a mirage. China is dealing with very high unemployment, extremely expensive housing, rapid inflation, corruption that is utterly out-of-control, high levels of public debt, near apocalyptic pollution, and numerous other very severe social and political problems. Moreover, these issues are nothing new. Things were this way nine years ago but the situation has now become so bad that the Chinese government is just no longer capable of covering them up.

Tom Friedman will be so disappointed.