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The reasons for this are obvious: 1. Money laundering i.e. How can Chinese government officials embezzle tax money and keep it? Buy real estate overseas and ha

The reasons for this are obvious: 1. Money laundering i.e. How can Chinese government officials embezzle tax money and keep it? Buy real estate overseas and have your family live in them. 2. Tax evasion. Buy real estate overseas and have your family live in them. The education angle makes sense, but imo it's not the main reason.

rolltiide 7y ago
But who cares? if we don't respect Chinese rule of law (or lack thereof) then is it money laundering? As in, money laundering requires that the source of money have an illicit origin - not merely the observation thats its being moved around - but if the origin is successfully completely unknown, or if the origin is determined illicit by the Chinese government, then neither of those really satisfy the criteria for vilifying the current recipient
- chaostheory 7y ago
  > But who cares? Anyone who wants to know where this magic foreign money is coming from. Personally, I'm not judging anyone. At the same time I don't like living in ignorance.
  - rolltiide 7y ago
    Yes, understanding the psychology of market participants is useful Using that info to use public resources on curbing money flows is something I would be against, given that its a fools errand
jseliger 7y ago
You're missing the most obvious reason that's far more important: Anyone smart and Chinese knows that there's a very decent chance that the system collapses and/or the government steals all your money and possibly your life. In the US and Canada, it's extremely uncommon for the government to steal a rich person's money and even life, and it virtually never happens without a public trial. Anyone smart, Chinese, and with resources is looking for a way to not be subject to Chinese legal/government jurisdiction, and if you were in China, you'd be doing the same.
- gcbw2 7y ago
  You think in terms of theoretical society that is either On or Off. No place is like that. You missed the point that the people fleeing is already stealing tax and are likely the bad parts of the system themselves. They are fleeing from others like them and the justice, to begin with. If the system will collapse or not, i doubt that cross their mind.
- chaostheory 7y ago
  I agree. China has little rule of law. It runs mainly on nepotism now even more than pre-XJ. That said, I'm still guessing that most of this money was made illicitly.

rolltiide 7y ago

But who cares? if we don't respect Chinese rule of law (or lack thereof) then is it money laundering? As in, money laundering requires that the source of money have an illicit origin - not merely the observation thats its being moved around - but if the origin is successfully completely unknown, or if the origin is determined illicit by the Chinese government, then neither of those really satisfy the criteria for vilifying the current recipient

chaostheory 7y ago
> But who cares? Anyone who wants to know where this magic foreign money is coming from. Personally, I'm not judging anyone. At the same time I don't like living in ignorance.
- rolltiide 7y ago
  Yes, understanding the psychology of market participants is useful Using that info to use public resources on curbing money flows is something I would be against, given that its a fools errand

jseliger 7y ago

You're missing the most obvious reason that's far more important: Anyone smart and Chinese knows that there's a very decent chance that the system collapses and/or the government steals all your money and possibly your life. In the US and Canada, it's extremely uncommon for the government to steal a rich person's money and even life, and it virtually never happens without a public trial. Anyone smart, Chinese, and with resources is looking for a way to not be subject to Chinese legal/government jurisdiction, and if you were in China, you'd be doing the same.

gcbw2 7y ago
You think in terms of theoretical society that is either On or Off. No place is like that. You missed the point that the people fleeing is already stealing tax and are likely the bad parts of the system themselves. They are fleeing from others like them and the justice, to begin with. If the system will collapse or not, i doubt that cross their mind.
chaostheory 7y ago
I agree. China has little rule of law. It runs mainly on nepotism now even more than pre-XJ. That said, I'm still guessing that most of this money was made illicitly.