[hrkristian]

I don't know if you're baiting for a conspiracy, but I'd go as far as to say top level politics are to blame in both countries, albeit more directly in the case of China.

[r0h1n]

Nope, not baiting. Genuine question.

[seanmcdirmid]

America's ghost towns were once thriving and now are deserted. China's ghost cities are relatively new and have never thrived before; they are just symptoms of a huge real estate bubble.

China overbuilds way too much, even in thriving cities like Shanghai and Beijing will you find almost completely deserted shopping malls.

[r0h1n]

I only observed that America and China both arrived at the same end result independently - ghost cities. I am not saying that they followed the same approaches, or took the same time.

[seanmcdirmid]

Very unrelated. China also has its share of ancient ghost towns that are similar to ours; e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niya_(Tarim_Basin)

[tossacct]

seanmcdirmind did not accuse you of saying anything. You asked a question and then he answered it. Are you replying to the right thread?

>>I only observed...

You didn't ONLY observe, you observed and then asked a question, and then the question was answered:

r0h1n>>"I'd be more interested in why two such different countries as the US and China seem to have independently arrived at the same problem"

Seanmcdirmind asked you if your question was genuine, you responded that it was, then he answered your question. There is no conflict here.

[r0h1n]

That's a fair point.