In honor of my 2 hours in Dubai airport, here’s a story about that zany town. It’s not exactly divorce-related, but there’s a definite legal angle.
Remember the good ol’ days? 16-hour workdays in the mines, voting by the landed gentry only, and debtor’s prison too?
Wild wacky Dubai, home of the “world’s first” 7-star hotel, man-made islands covering the size of Paris,a 2,684 foot building (yes, that’s more than twice as high as the Empire State Building), and a planned spaceport, has gone retro! This ultra-futuristic playland apparently also features a real live debtor’s prison. About 2 years ago, Pravda (yes Pravda) reported that a staggering 42% of all inmates in the Dubai central jail were there for failing to pay bank loans.
Burj Dubai is nearly 2700 feet tall
Now the New York Times reports:
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.
But, you may ask, isn’t Dubai’s economy somewhat somewhat protected from the global eco-slump by the gajillions of gallons of oil hiding beneath its hot desert sand? Here’s a fun fact. Guess which of these following Dubai facts isn’t true?
a) Dubai has as indoor ski resort, complete with an Avalanche Cafe.
b) 85% of the population are foreign ex-pats, and about 70% of those are Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi.
c) Hydropolis, the world’s first underwater hotel, is scheduled to open in 2009.
d) Dubai’s unprecedented building boom is said to make it home to about 25% of the world’s big cranes.
e) Dubai has more oil than it knows what to do with.
Yes, that’s right, the only one of these things that isn’t true is E. Dubai’s economy largely depends on construction, tourism, and, uh, finance (gas & oil is just 6% of GDP). Not exactly the most promising economic sectors these days. Couple an economic crash with a dubious record on human rights and free press, and voila! Ex-pat Exodus.
Bankruptcy is already pretty scary here in the U.S. You might lose your house, but at least you don’t have to worry about about debtor’s prison too.
In Dubai, an economy built on excess and not much else, you’ve got some pretty strong lingering cognitive dissonance. On my flight into Dubai last night on the national airline, I saw the customary tourist propaganda video. The section on shopping malls including the following printed words:
FORGET THE CREDIT CRUNCH … SHOP!
Giant Emirates Mall and Ski Dubai
Shop indeed. And maybe even ski. But if you’re in a real pinch, make sure you’ve left town before the bill arrives.
