BUT THE TECHNOCRATS PRAISED THE “ONE CHILD” POLICY AS A BRILLIANT SOLUTION TO THE “POPULATION BOMB:” Bride prices in China have shot up, bending the country’s society out of shape.

Related: The marriage marketplace connection to China’s ghost cities. “There is a strong speculative component to the phenomenon, as the apartments in the empty buildings are being purchased for astronomical prices by highly leveraged chinese citizens, especially chinese men who are looking to signal their suitability to marry by owning ‘property’.”