[seldom_seen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'T')he Empty Quarter in Saudi Arabia

[Daniel_Plainview]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ache', 'h')ttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/world/middleeast/12dubai.html

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')UBAI, United Arab Emirates — Sofia, a 34-year-old Frenchwoman, moved here a year ago to take a job in advertising, so confident about Dubai’s fast-growing economy that she bought an apartment for almost $300,000 with a 15-year mortgage.

Now, like many of the foreign workers who make up 90 percent of the population here, she has been laid off and faces the prospect of being forced to leave this Persian Gulf city — or worse.

“I’m really scared of what could happen, because I bought property here,” said Sofia, who asked that her last name be withheld because she is still hunting for a new job. “If I can’t pay it off, I was told I could end up in debtors’ prison.”

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.

[timmatoil]

I have been trying to find updates on this story, but no luck yet. If anyone finds anything else please post, thanks.

[anarky321]

"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"

amateurs

everyone knows you should set fire to the house, wreck the car in a spectacular way and then take a taxi to the airport

[paimei01]

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/co ... 64368.html
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') ask the Filipino girl behind the counter if she likes it here. "It's OK," she says cautiously. Really? I say. I can't stand it. She sighs with relief and says: "This is the most terrible place! I hate it! I was here for months before I realised – everything in Dubai is fake. Everything you see. The trees are fake, the workers' contracts are fake, the islands are fake, the smiles are fake – even the water is fake!" But she is trapped, she says. She got into debt to come here, and she is stuck for three years: an old story now. "I think Dubai is like an oasis. It is an illusion, not real. You think you have seen water in the distance, but you get close and you only get a mouthful of sand."

[Maddog78]

Good article, thanks for the link.

It's a little bit sensationalistic but still very good.
I travelled there many times from 2002-2006.
The expats I know there don't "pay themselves 40,000 a month and do nothing" but anyways.

It seems this recession is going to be particularly hard and may even destroy the place.
It really does seem to be unsustainable. I feel for the slave class.

[Mesuge]

This article in Independent is brilliant while chilling, one of the best articles on the credit scam and overshoot-peak oil ever..

[copious.abundance]

>>> Bloomberg <<<
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Oil Above $50 Saves Gulf States From Crisis, Lure KKR
By Henry Meyer

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- While their biggest customers may continue to wallow in recession into 2010, the oil-producing nations of the Persian Gulf are again luring foreign investment and looking for places to park their own wealth.

Crude prices that have stabilized above $50 a barrel mean the Middle East’s oil-rich economies are likely to pull out of the global financial crisis sooner than the rest of the world. Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy and the world’s biggest oil exporter, is attracting renewed interest from investors including leveraged-buyout firm KKR & Co. Qatar and Abu Dhabi have returned to international capital markets.

Stock markets are rallying across the region, led by Saudi Arabia, whose Tadawul All Share Index ended last week up 26 percent for the year to date, after tumbling 56.5 percent in 2008.

“The expected resilience of oil prices puts the Gulf countries in a relatively privileged position compared to Europe and the U.S.,” says Eckart Woertz, an economist at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. “In 2010, that is likely to lead to some resumption of growth, unlike in developed-market economies.”

[...]

[AirlinePilot]

Oil prices stay high, ME economies do well and...wait for it.......THEIR DEMAND INCREASES.

Which leaves less for export. Export land model in action.

Your going to come around sometime Oily. Maybe not this year, maybe not even next, but all the wishing and hoping in the world wont make global depletion and decline go away.

[copious.abundance]

That depends on demand from non-Middle East nations. If the economy of the rest of the world improves along with the economy of the Middle East, and demand for oil goes up too, then the increase in exports would outpace their increase in internal consumption.

[deMolay]

I wonder? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhTYigJg5TE

[deMolay]

Why would Dubai want their physical gold moved out of London into their own Vaults? Could this be linked to the warning about US Embassies being told to hold foreign local currencies? Is a US Dollar collapse or UK collapse getting close?

[Ferretlover]

HHHmmm... I think ol' Bob should be in the Doomer group.

[The_Virginian]

becuase they want to bolster thier own gold / FX exchange and undermine the competion from other financial centers inc. London and N.Y.

http://www.dgcx.ae/content/Home.en.About_Us.DGCX.aspx

[lowem]

It's from a while back in May :

- Dubai to get back gold reserves from London banks
- Dubai Moving Its Gold Out Of London

Apparently Dubai has got new vaults ready so I'd suppose it's only natural that they would move their stuff back home.

[Nickel]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lowem', 'A')pparently Dubai has got new vaults ready so I'd suppose it's only natural that they would move their stuff back home.

[bodigami]

Gold is money, everything else is not. Probably the Euro, Colon and Yen will be the 3 last standing currencies... but after that, back to our old yellow buddy: GOLD.

[dorlomin]

Financial Times

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')ubai World, a conglomerate owned by the government of Dubai, is asking its creditors for a six-month “standstill” on its obligations, the company said on Wednesday.

Dubai World includes Nakheel, a state-owned property developer which is responsible for some of Dubai’s most ambitious land reclamation projects including the Palm Jumeirah and the World Islands and has $4bn in outstanding Islamic debt falling due next month. The conglomerate also includes the high-profile DP World, the owner of the former P&O ports operator.

The plea came as two wholly owned Abu Dhabi banks subscribed a further $5bn in financing for debt-laden Dubai, the emirate’s department of finance said in a statement.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Al Hilal Bank, an Islamic institution founded only last year, each subscribed $2.5bn in bonds issued by Dubai, the statement said.

“The $5bn bond announced earlier today by the Dubai Department of Finance ... is not linked to the restructuring of Dubai World,” the department said.

[deMolay]

Trouble in paradise. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/46b4065c-d9f7 ... ck_check=1