I think the current stock market right now is a malinvestment. Economies are shut down while stockprices are reaching new heights. This is probably because of the stimulus from central banks. It has a high probability of collapsing really bad. So the risk is not worth it.
Well i think that simply the whole old market respect the definition of a malinvestment. in fact it is already in a big bubble that is going to pop ASAP. I think the old markets are a misallocation of capital now, in the present
Cryptocurrency TETHER (USDT) is hardly what can be called a good investment. It is said to be backed by currency (at current market cap 25B USD). While it is a stablecoin i.e. pegged to the USD, and used for USD denominated transactions, the daily volume is much bigger (almost 3x) then it’s market cap and as such there is a lot of “virtual money” floating around. The extreme growth of Tether means fast adoption and transactions but the bubble may burst and it may turn out ot have not as much backing as was stated… which means that in this case 2/3 of people end up with nothing.
The Government funded Swedish unemployment agency has seen several malinvestment scandals. It is an ineffective agency which spends enormous recourses. Lately, it has come to public attention that large +100M projects (ex. a new website and hiring 3rd party’s) have had unrealistically high expenses. Basically, outside corporations which are owned by internal unemployment agency leaders have been awarded such jobs. 
- Investing in bitcoin for example. Buying the top (FOMO) and then panic selling when the price dips. - selling the dips…REKT CITY EXPRESS any day!
The pension system in Chile is a totally malinvestment. This system was invented in 1980 during the military regime, between the labor minister José Piñera (brother of the current President of Chile) and the military junta. The AFP’s (the companies that manage the pension funds) have no legal incentive to make good investments, only well enough not to be penalized for underperforming. Results: very good results for owners of AFP’s that earn with the commissions, and very bad results for ordinary people who mostly receive monthly pensions below the minimum wage, that is also very low.
The intention is to create jobs in the building industry.
The consequence is it keeps real-estate prices un-naturally inflated and further out of reach by many!
I think actually the best example at the moment is all big central banks around the world as they are malinvesting all the money they are getting now cheap and bailing out all the companies that benefit them … Outrageous theft from 99% of the people in the world … Bitcoin standard is what people need 
Financing an automobile. It’s a depreciating asset that will rapidly lose its value over time. Terrible investment in most cases when you factor in insurance, maintenance, interest on the loan and inflation.
I think a good example of a malinvestment would be Carnival Cruise Line stock. In the past year, the price of the stock has fallen from the mid-$50’s down to around $24 today. The cruise lines have all been shut down and have had such a bad stigma placed on them from the Coronavirus. People are buying them now expecting them to rise but considering how vastly over inflated the entire stock market is, I believe there is much more losses to come. Especially since there is still no specific timeline or plan for cruises to reopen.
Research an investment (could be a public company, private company, government agency, infrastructure project, etc) that you believe meets the definition of a malinvestment (past or present) and argue why you think it’s a misallocation of capital (3-5 sentences).
China is a great example of malinvestment. It is an authoritarian country. It can make anything appear at the flick of their wrist because if the people do not get it done, then they will face punishment without prejudice. For example, if China wanted Hong Kong to mass produce more iphones, then it will do so. But, this will hurt China through mass malinvestment.
Investment in High speed trains. Decades of expensive and constant investments for infrastructure, enviroment contamination, landscapes destruction and to be finally used only for tourism ro transport few people at a very expensive ticket rates. At this pace hundreds of years of proceeds would be needed to retrieve part or the wholeness of investment, that ROI time might me reduced significantly if those trains were used for goods transportation instead injecting that speed and leverage of cargo amount to reduce costs and prices, making economies grow and recover faster
An example of malinvestment would be taking a cheap loan to go and do 3-5 year non-vocational academic course for the sake of going to university and having it on one’s CV. If the cost of borrowing were higher - or the course barely affordable - only a true academic would take it. Otherwise, the student would more carefully consider whether the benefits of the course would manifest themselves in the form of meaningful strides towards a more rewarding career. Or else choose another course or instead find more vocational trading to begin their career. My “research” is based on the knowledge of my own Bachelors degree in English Literature where I achieved a 2:1 but barely learned a thing. In sharp contrast with my MA in marketing management which cost me over £5,000 and on which I worked extremely hard to not only achieve Distinction but also make absolutely sure I understood the fundamental lessons of every module I studied.
Here is a similarly minded article:
Building of huge “Ghost Cities” in P.R.C - Mainland China:
Folks well-connected to ruling CCP propose building of a new city as needed “infrastructure project”.
Excellent business, because: first, land is all Gvt. owned, so its almost for free.
2nd: because it gets declared an “approved infrastructure project” the State-owned Banks give all the loans to the “developer”, and they start building - which creates jobs, seen as a good thing to makd some income possible for the poorer population. Which third makes the “developer” profit from really cheap labout.
Due to widespread mistrust in bank-savings of Chinese people, they attract private buyers, who want a "concrete investment. In order to finance the rather overprized real-estate, the privat buyer has to go to yet the same bank for loans.
Finally: it becomes obvious that there was NO real demand in the first place for this “new city infratructure program” - the real-estates stay emply.
As nobody moves there, and due to poor building-quality by performed by hard-exploited workers on 24/7 shifts, it quickly decays. No small shops want to open up in an empty city… hence nobody moved in as tenants…and the families who invested got also stripped off their moderate wealth, but still pay back their loans.
Who was the winner? The “well-connected” developer - Millions made, easy money to become rrrrrrich quickly in China… if you have the right friends in the right position.
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In my opinion and experience a malinvestment would be a time share. I actually bought one in Las Vegas awhile back ended spending over 12k in a couple of years times and using it only once then had to sell cause it was too costly with the monthly payments and yearly maintenance fees. So I paid over 12k for one week at Planet Hollywood. If I want to spend a week in Vegas now I spend $700 much cheaper and I could choose which place I would like to stay. So definitely stay away from time shares in my personal opinion.
In 2001 and 2002 a few Norwegian Municipalities strong in power production, borrowed money using their future revenues, from their power industry related sources, as collateral to invest in financial products sold by Terra Securities. These were, in reality, high risk products made of complicated bonds issued by Citigroup; pitched as a good investment opportunity. An NDA was also signed for the deal; this document ensured that the quality of the investments couldn’t be assessed by an independent 3rd party. The newspaper “ Finansavisen” leaked the story late 2007 and won the next year’s Scoop Award for it. The case became known as the “Terra Securities scandal “. Terra Securities went bankrupt. Thus, forcing the sale of the municipality’s shares in the American funds, leading to a loss of millions of NOK. The magnitude of these losses would increase due to the global financial crisis that started in the United States in 2008. In 2011 other entities, that had made similar investments, were identified. This case is complex, however in summary I believe it meets the definition of a malinvestment.
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For me, a very good example of a malinvestment being made very often during the past few years is the rate at which Malls spring up everywhere. In my little hometown itself which has a population of around half a million people, there are so many Malls being built. Does the population and spending habits justify the number of Malls that we have? I don’t think so. First of all, they severely affect the livelihood of neighborhood shops that have been in existence for a long time. Secondly, they promote a very consumerist way of thinking and seduce people into increasing their personal debt by buying and buying things that they really cannot afford.
The capital allocation for the Malls could have been better spent on more enduring investments.
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Solyndra officials used inaccurate information to mislead the Department of Energy for a $535 million loan guarantee. After four years of investigation the United States Government is now sure they were duped by Solyndra. Solyndra was part of the stimulus to invest in clean solar energy. Though the U.S. rushed into this space and put too much money into dishonest companies.
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Source: https://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Malinvestment
I believe the Nakheel Tower in Dubai meets the definition of a past malinvestment. It is a misallocation of capital because the Palm Jumeirah, its nearby islands, are experiencing natural erosion among other environmental problems. The tower was originally supposed to be built as a 3,300-foot-tall skyscraper with 156 elevators throughout. However, because of the natural issues the islands were experiencing, the tower could not be built at all.
As a current student at a a smaller university i cannot let this opportunity pass me up. Education has been one of the biggest malinvestments for a while now. Because student loans are allowing larger sums to be borrowed, the educational institutions raise the price of their tuition to compensate for this growth. The rates have gone from $345 billion to 1,386 trillion in 2017.
Source: Average Student Loan Debt