A Haven for Money in the Middle East, Dubai Is Losing Its Shine
- Switzerland model is undercut as U.A.E. enters regional fray
- With oil spenders retrenching, who’ll fill all the new malls?
Burj Khalifa tower, center, and other skyscrapers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Photographer: Christopher Pike/BloombergEver since the first gleaming towers sprang out of the desert, Dubai has gotten used to rapid change. It’s no stranger to boom-and-bust. What’s happening now is different: a slow bleed.
The city’s iconic builders are plowing ahead. Cranes are everywhere. But no one is sure who’ll occupy all that new retail and office space. Already, Dubai’s malls are noticeably less full of stores and restaurants than they once were. Expatriates, the lifeblood of the economy, have started to pack up and go home -- or at least talk about it, as the cost of living and doing business surges. Corporate mainstays, from Emirates airline to developer Emaar Properties, just reported disappointing third-quarter profits. The stock market is having its worst year since 2008.