A Chinese Bubble to Burst

And if it does, it could wreak havoc on the global economy.

"In June, real estate prices in 70 large Chinese cities declined over the previous month for the first time in almost one-and-a-half years -- by 0.4 percent for new construction and 0.1 percent for existing structures. The government statistics office also reported sobering figures for the overall economy.

Statistics also show that the economy grew by only 10.3 percent in the second quarter, compared with the same period last year. Growth in the first three months of the year was still at 11.9 percent. This decline in growth seems ridiculous when compared with economic conditions in Western industrialized countries. But for the People's Republic, whose development model needs record growth to keep the economy from quickly sliding downward, the recent data is unsettling."