homes stand vacant, and there are enough empty properties for some 90 million people—a number greater than the entire population of Germany.64 Excess capacity in major industries tops 30 percent, with factories sitting idle and goods rotting in warehouses.65 Nearly two-thirds of China’s infrastructure projects cost more to build than they will ever generate in economic returns. Total losses from all this waste are difficult to calculate, but China’s government estimates that it blew at least $6 trillion on “ineffective investment” between 2009 and 2014 alone.66
