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Business Daily: China's empty homes

17/11/2010

China's empty homes

BBC World Service - Business Daily, China's empty homes

China's ghost towns full of empty homes, plus why humans will lose money to gain revenge

The BBC's business editor Robert Peston reports on China's ghost towns full of empty homes, plus Dan Ariely on the brain science of why humans are willing to lose money to gain revenge

China is preparing new measures to attack rising inflation. It has already tried to slow down its galloping economy by cutting back bank lending and bringing in measures to deflate the bubble in property prices. Millions of middle class Chinese have gambled on buying new apartments. It's even reported that speculators are hoarding a large number of properties to fuel price rises. 

Fears have been raised that as a result, millions of homes lie empty across China, in what is a parody of healthy economic growth. 

The BBC's business editor Robert Peston reports from Inner Mongolia on China's ghost towns. 

Plus leading behavioural economist Professor Dan Ariely of MIT in the US, explains the brain science of why humans are willing to lose money to gain revenge.

And our technology correspondent Jeremy Wagstaff examines the global habit of 'miscalls' - the way people use phone calls which never connect to communicate with their loved ones or business contacts.

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