Dubai from above

It is true Dubai has taken a hit in the current downturn. With recent developments, the golden times of Anything Is Possible seem to have temporarily come to a halt with a thudding hangover. The FT reports:

"For thousands of expatriates lured to Dubai by the promise of year-round sunshine and a tax-free lifestyle, the party is over. Corporate restructurings have arrived hard on the heels of steep falls in property prices and plummeting consumer confidence; El Dorado is fading back into desert. As the cutbacks spread from finance and real estate to sectors such as tourism, media and retail, many are packing up and heading home." (For the full article, go here.)

However, it's not all gloom and doom till the end of days as some report.

FT comments: "Dubai must feel a little like Mark Twain, these days. Upon reading his own obituary in the newspaper, Twain wrote: 'The report of my death was an exaggeration.'” (Full article)