Predicting Economic Crashes Through Architecture
Posted by Steven Friedman on
January 14, 2010
An interesting story came out recently in The Christian Science Monitor. According to research by Mark Thorton, an economic crash in a particular country or region can be predicted by a spate of ‘world’s tallest buildings’ in that area. It seems tallest buildings are usually a result of factors often leading up to economic slumps - interest rate and price distortions, and a feeling that things can only ever keep on improving.
Known as “The Skyscaper Index”, this chart reveals that such an analysis isn’t foolproof - but it does get things right more often than not.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
This may be a classic case of Warren Buffet’s maxim, “Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful”. Time to short against China, anyone?
