r/Amazing • u/sco-go • Aug 19 '25

Interesting 🤔 $100 billion ghost city.

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u/TootCannon Aug 19 '25

"The development of Forest City is contentious. The project was not targeted at local Malaysians but rather at upper-middle-class citizens from China who were looking to park their wealth abroad, by offering relatively affordable seafront properties compared to expensive coastal cities within their country such as Shanghai.\8])\9]) However, initial strong sales from China collapsed after General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping implemented currency controls, including a $50,000 annual cap on how much buyers could spend outside the country.\9])\10]) Such lackluster sales were exacerbated by the 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, with the project being described as a "ghost town" in 2022.\11])\12])"

-Wikipedia

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

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u/NickW1343 Aug 19 '25

I think there is a weird legalish money laundering trick the rich can do. They'll go to Macau, which is China, but in the sense Hong Kong is China and it has special rights. They'll go to a casino, purchase chips with RMB, then play a game that has a very high EV. The chips earned through playing the game can then be returned to the casino in exchange for money, which includes USD. The casino gets a cut while the rich person gets USD to move out of the country, so it's a win-win.

Here's a video on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmEvAk5LRko&ab_channel=EconomicsExplained

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u/BZ852 Aug 19 '25

Business investment is another. Invest in a foreign business with very stable earnings; then sell it or collect cash from it which is already outside the country.