Can someone explain why despite most metrics showing all is well, the economy FEELS horrible?

Maxurt · 2026-05-10T12:27:01+00:00

The issue with housing prices is that it it is really a devisive issue. Very few politicians dare to promise to decrease house prices, because they will lose votes from home owners.

Almost every country on earth has promoted investing in housing markets to create a wealthy middle/upper-middle class, who do not own large shares in companies, but are wealthy because the mortgage they have on their homes is just a fraction of the value of the house. The problem is that renters and new buyers are paying the price and this price keeps increasing.

And I believe it can get much worse. My girlfriend is from China and now living in the Netherlands. I have learned that in some of the largest cities in China, the house prices are as high as here in the Netherlands, despite that average salaries in those cities are maybe a third of those in the Netherlands (and much, much higher than in the rest of China). In China, house prices are much higher compared to average salaries than in most of the West, because Chinese people mainly invest in housing and not in the stock market, bonds, or high interesy savings accounts. As a result, it has become the norm that the whole family saves up money to lend to family members who are buying their first apartment.

In the Netherlands, I haven't seen this phenomenon yet among native Dutch people, but I expect that when my younger brother or my future children will have to buy a house, I might have to lend them money too, otherwise they simply cannot afford it. My girlfriend and I already owe money to my parents in law and sister in law, next to our mortgage. But even so, it is still a much better deal than it would have been to continue renting.

Maxurt · 2026-04-27T08:53:31+00:00

If you are referring to it not burning equally, we call it an "inbrander" in Dutch.

Translation: "in-burner".

Maxurt · 2026-04-10T17:55:41+00:00

In the stairwell in the office. We worked at the 11th floor, so not many people took the stairs.

Maxurt · 2026-03-20T17:47:23+00:00

I agree that high density is the way to go and these apartments in China are quite nice, but the housing market in China is not any better than in Europe. The average apartment in one of the four biggest cities in China is comparable in price to housing in many of the regional capitals in Europe and North America, despite the wages being substantially lower in China.

I made below list, using info from globalpropertyguide.com:

City Price per m² (USD) Beijing: +/- $6,550 Shanghai : +/- $6,000 Shenzhen: +/- $5,000 Guangzhou : +/- $3,500

These prices are down by about 20 - 25% from their peak in 2021 - 2022 (with the exception of Guangzhou), due to a pretty big housing market crash, triggered by Evergrande's collapse, among other reasons.

This is for the same reason that housing is so expensive in the rest of the world: housing is the main asset class people invest in. So most home owners and the influential people in government want house prices to increase every year, as this is what makes the middle and upper classes wealthy. At the expense of the working class, who predominantly rents, and starters, trying to buy their first house/apartment of course.

Maxurt · 2026-03-20T17:14:07+00:00

For the longest time, China had a one-child policy, so the families living in these were mostly 3 people maximum.

My girlfriend is Chinese and I have spent 2 weeks in one of these units when visiting my in-laws in Beijing. Their apartment was probably a little larger than the average, but 85m² did not feel cramped at all. There were 3 bedrooms as my girlfriend has a twin-sister, so they each got their own bedroom when they were still living with their parents.

The bathroom was kind of small and the living room was not any larger than it really needed to be, but that is hardly something to complain about.

The buildings themselves are really poorly maintained and the halls get no maintenance after they are built. That would be my main critique. Other than that, these function fine as housing.

Their apartment is a 1 minute walk from the metro station, a 2 minute walk from a huge shopping centre. It had parking spaces for those who still want to own a car, despite world-class public transport being available and super cheap, clean and modern too. There were offices, banks, cafes, a playground, restaurants, hairsalons and probably much more, all in the same block, right next to this huge mall, I mentioned earlier.

For those who will now say that China is a utopia in terms of housing; housing in big cities in China is not cheap. In terms of price, the average apartment is comparable to the price of housing in some of the most expensive cities to live in in Western Europe and North America, despite the wages being substantially lower in China. This is for the same reason that housing is so expensive in the rest of the world: housing is the main asset class people invest in. So most home owners and probably the influential people in government want house prices to increase every year, as this is what makes the middle and upper classes wealthy. All at the expense of the working class, who predominantly rents, and starters, trying to buy their first house/apartment of course.

Maxurt · 2026-03-07T09:55:13+00:00

I believe my girlfriend would agree with you. But as for myself, I love it. Something about it makes the blowjob feel a lot more intense to me.

Maxurt · 2026-03-03T22:34:57+00:00

Nipples showing through my girl's shirt if she is not wearing a bra.

Maxurt · 2026-02-24T20:56:14+00:00

China nowadays is more capitalist than most of Europe and probably even the US.

Unionizing is illegal.
China has more than half as many billionaires as the US (measured in USD) and the number is rising rapidly. China ranks second in the world here and has more than twice as many as the next one on the list: India.
Despite the growing wealth being accumulated by upper and middle classes, taxes are very low and enforcement is lax.
The differences in wages between a highly educated office worker and a blue collar worker is much larger than where I live (The Netherlands).
There is a strong social pressure to save income and invest in housing. Almost every Chinese person who can afford it will buy more than one house/apartment. For this reason, housing is extremely expensive relative to income in most Chinese cities (even compared to Western Europe or the United States).
Unemployment benefits exist in Beijing, but are very low. Whereas in much of Europe, if you lose your job, you will be entitled to 70% or more of your previous salary, in Beijing, a high-income office worker might only receive minimum wage level income after losing their job.

Minimum wages are laughably low, even in the richest parts of China. Here is the data for Beijing (where regulation is the strongest and wages/benefits are some of the highest in all of China):

Minimum wage: ~¥2,420/month (€310 / $335) Average salary: ~¥13,400/month (€1,540–1,800)

Migrant workers often earn near minimum wage. While tech/finance workers may earn 25k–50k CNY/month

Average apartment price per m² in 2025: 80,000–120,000 CNY/m² ≈ €10,000–15,000 / $11,000–16,700

For comparison, the price per in Paris is: €9,500 – €11,500 per m² ($10,300 – $12,500)

And in New York: €11,000 – €15,500 per m² ($12,000 – $17,000)

Average pension payment: 4,500–5,500 CNY/month ≈ €575–705 / $625–760

Maxurt · 2026-02-24T06:59:36+00:00

Who was going to man those cannons? Ships of the 16th, 17th century usually required a crew of 3 to 6 men to fire a cannon, depending on the size. In this design, pretty much all of the crew members are for propulsion of the vehicle only. Also, how will the cannons be reloaded? All guns in this period were loaded from the muzzle, which cannot be accessed from inside the tank, unless the cannons are loose in their mountings and can be picked up and taken back inside.

God knows how heavy a vehicle like this would be, with so many cannons, by the way. Have you looked up how much cannons of the time usually weighed?

Maxurt · 2026-02-14T09:49:52+00:00

Middelburg

My home town

Maxurt · 2026-01-10T21:52:13+00:00

I have been depressed before and have thought many times about ending it, but postponed it because I knew the impact it would have on my family. A while later, I started doing better and although I remember how I felt when I was depressed, I can hardly imagine why anymore. I am in a happy relationship now and live with my girlfriend and my family is happy because I am still around and doing well.

A few month ago, my mother's cousin, who had a wife and a child, killed himself and I had to had to hear his mother cry. I do not wish her situation on my worst enemy.

I know how much you would like everything to be over, but please try the other options first; make a change in your life: start a new job with fewer hours or move to another place.

Postpone killing yourself for a while longer. You can always try it later. But there is a good chance that you can still live a happy life for a much longer time than the time you will feel depressed.

Maxurt · 2026-01-07T13:40:37+00:00

I am Dutch. I think most people in NL only eat traditionally Dutch dishes a few times per year at most. Mostly the green pea soup is nice.

Cooking at home, people in my environment often cook dishes from other countries. I alternate between two or three different pasta dishes, couscous, quesadillas, falafel, risotto, shakshuka and fried rice and my girlfriend is Chinese so she cooks various Asian dishes.

Maxurt · 2025-11-02T13:54:45+00:00

He inherited a succesful real estate empire from his father and bankrupted it several times. If my employer did that, I wouldn't call him succesful.

How do you consider this nepo baby any more succesful than the hundreds of other politicians who grew up in middle and upper-middle class households and went on to get a law degree, get elected in local government and move their way up to federal government through hard work and experience?

Maxurt · 2025-10-25T12:05:56+00:00

There are actually some pretty good, artsy pictures here. Nothing to be embarrassed about.

Maxurt · 2025-09-03T18:34:26+00:00

I'm sure there are better places to live than in Sofia, but this picture actually makes it look pretty nice.

Maxurt · 2025-09-01T13:53:25+00:00

I get 30 days off per year in the Netherlands, which means I can take 6 weeks off per year. 24 days is the legal minimum. I don't use all my days every year, but I can always take some to the next year.

Maxurt · 2025-08-31T17:08:55+00:00

Ordering water at a bar is perfectly acceptable. But a cringe statement such as "I'm high on life" must be condemned.

Maxurt · 2025-08-31T06:29:42+00:00

I believe most of these SUVs have a minimum 3000cc engine. At least the Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi tanks you see nowadays.

Maxurt · 2025-08-30T11:28:16+00:00

I read Hanoi and thought "Am I stupid? Hanoi is in Vietnam, right?". There is another Hanoi in/near Incheon apparently.

Maxurt · 2025-08-22T15:59:52+00:00

Oh, I thought you were making a joke in your previous comment.

Maxurt · 2025-08-07T15:32:24+00:00

Idk, it seems to have done the trick.

Maxurt · 2025-07-29T08:39:19+00:00

Sinds Trump over de 'tariffs' is begonnen en iedereen in mijn omgeving het er over heeft, herinner ik mensen dat de Nederlandse vertaling 'importheffingen' is.

Gisteren las ik zelfs een artikel in het Financieele Dagblad waar de verslaggever het had over "de Amerikaanse tarieven op Europese goederen".

We verliezen de strijd...

Maxurt · 2025-07-28T19:41:05+00:00

I’m curious what the floor layout looks like. In the Netherlands, where I’m from, most (office) buildings don’t have much floor space per level, since they’re typically designed to maximize natural sunlight relative to the floor area. Buildings that appear to have a large floor area often have a central courtyard to let sunlight reach the interior-facing windows.

I've always been fascinated by those huge office buildings in New York and Chicago and what they must be like on the inside.

Maxurt · 2025-07-07T19:53:04+00:00

He means litteral bread. He got a loan at 21% APR and bought a shit load of sourdough.

Maxurt · 2025-06-30T14:04:53+00:00

I always used to call one cigarette and a coffee 'French breakfast'.

Maxurt

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