Dubai, a miserable pearl fishing coast on the Gulf, suddenly became rich with oil and decided to become a world financial center like London and New York. The place was a building site and they were building the world's tallest tower and largest man-made islands in the shape of palm trees. This year it had to shelve plans to construct a new waterfront development the size of Hong Kong Island and ``Dubailand,'' a leisure park that would have been three times the size of Manhattan. Home prices are down more than 50 per cent from their peak in the third quarter of 2008, and it may become worthless.
Only 17% of Dubai's inhabitants are citizens. Only 15% are female! A quarter of India's GNP comes from Indians working in Dubai and other Gulf countries. Egypt is also dependent on the Gulf. Some 100,000 Palestinians from the territories are now in danger of losing their jobs. The concept of building a tourist and financial center based on foreign labor and credit - may fail. Dubai's location is unfavorable - it is a center of political tensions. The maintenance of the infrastructure in a desert near the sea is expensive and difficult. Fortunately, Arab boycott prevented Israelis to invest in Dubai so we are unhurt by their default.
Dubai built on sand and is heavily indebted. Today asked for a six month moratorium to pay it colossal debt, plunging the world stock exchanges into a free fall. TASE also hit an air pocket and is 2% down. This was shock was unexpected and painful. I wonder if the Saudis are not next in the line.
9 comments:
If the Saudis go bankrupt the radicals in the kingdom may increase their demands for the end to the House of Saud, since lending (and possibly borrowing) money at interest is a sin in Islam.
Dubai may come out of this better than SA.
Totally off topic, but I was thinking about your post on the vigorous 80-year olds you have been seeing around your hometown. One of the big trends we are seeing is the huge number of elderly that are piling onto the net. As part of this I am sure you have seen Gene Berman over on Steve Sailer's website commenting.
Unlike me, my maternal grandparents have money and live in a house in a senior community. A few days ago I went over to help my grandmother connect her computer to the internet, since she couldn't do it herself. I opened the networking software that came with Windows and discovered that in a community full of the elderly there were several wireless home networks that had already been set up.
Right now the few times I watch TV the only mention of the elderly online is when they get caught up in a scam of some sort. But aside from Gene Berman, when I went over to The Phora there was a man posting under the name Burrus who stated that he was in his sixties.
Of course, in order for the elderly to roam the net freely we will have to police the net better in order to keep he criminals out. But that is another matter for another time.
Sixty? For me, he is a baby.
Ok, I forgot he is young enough to be your grandson. I doubt most 111 year-olds will be roaming the net like you in the future.
The future is ours.
The default focused the world's attention on Dubai. It appears that they built a complete grandiose ski facility - in one of the hottest, dryest place on Earth. They lost touch with reality, not only the Arabs, but also the Swiss and English bankers who loaned them the money.
Money has its own logic. In the short-term.
Anon.
There must be some logic in building a ski facility in Dubai but I dont really see it. I know, I know, I have no money.
I know, I know, I have no money.
At this point neither does Dubai.
Bai Bai..
Dubai...
Anon.
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