[nouveaux]

US GDP in 2020 was 20.94T. According to Statista[0] "Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing" accounted for 4.59T. Manufacturing accounted for 2.27T. While "Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing" accounted for ~20% of GDP, I think its still a stretch to say that "in the US, industry is almost a support function for finance - just something to generate numbers to bet on, like horse racing."

"China's government has kept finance in its box, focusing investment on actually making real stuff."

What's happening with Evergrande is the opposite of keeping finance in its box. Evergrande borrowed money from banks and took money from consumers before building a condo. They then took the money and "invested" in things like football players and stadiums.[1] Consumers are left without homes. [2]

[0] https://www.statista.com/statistics/248006/real-value-added-...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergrande_Group#Sports

[2] https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210914-evergrande-dr...