print logo
RSS FEED

AMERICAN.COM

The Journal of the American Enterprise Institute

Bye Bye, Dubai

02/13/2009

Parts of the desert emirate now look ‘like a ghost town.’

From The New York Times:

“With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield.

“The government says the real number is much lower. But the stories contain at least a grain of truth: jobless people here lose their work visas and then must leave the country within a month. That in turn reduces spending, creates housing vacancies and lowers real estate prices, in a downward spiral that has left parts of Dubai—once hailed as the economic superpower of the Middle East—looking like a ghost town.”