Why have there been 3,000 cars abandoned at the Dubai airport?
You had to know it was going to end. Dubai's storied boom is starting to falter as the worldwide economic woes catch up with the nation's real estate and financial services-fueled good times. Abandoned cars are beginning to pile up at Dubai International Airport as overextended expatriates flee. Dubai throws debtors in the pokey, and if you lose your job, they yank your visa; two good reasons to drive to the airport and leave your maxed out credit cards on the passenger seat with an "I'm sorry" note. 3,000 cars are reportedly stockpiled at the airport so far, and with reports of 1,500 visas a day being cancelled, there may be a lot of dusty, cut rate luxury cars available for closeout prices.
[Source: Gadling, Photo: Bryan Denton/NYT]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Farris 11:03AM (2/18/2009)
In before the Arab haters!
Reply
notYou 4:16PM (2/18/2009)
Farris: "In before the Arab haters!"
I love it when hater-hating anti-hater crowd rushes in to preemptively hate on not-yet-existent hate first so they can demonstrate that such hate supposedly exists, even when it's not evident.
Farris 6:44PM (2/18/2009)
NotYou:
The only reason I posted that is because any time Autoblog posts a story about Arabs, there are droves of people that come on to hate just for the sake of hating.
To be quite honest, I'm glad no one came on this particular comment thread to hate. I'm glad I was wrong.
notYou 7:39AM (2/20/2009)
Farris: "The only reason I posted that is because any time Autoblog posts a story about Arabs, there are droves of people that come on to hate just for the sake of hating."
No, you're wrong. And this thread (and others) proves it.
What's more likely is any thread that _you've_seen_ on Autoblog might have met those conditions, but there's plenty you didn't see that were perfectly fine. The fact that you didn't see it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.
But thanks for preemptively slandering all of us who have participated in lots of other "arab" related threads based on your "perceptions". That's a nice little reverse psychology moral-superiority trick you've got there. It's nice to know we've got you playing internet cop for all of us...
jc 11:09AM (2/18/2009)
On a larger scale...When nations are in debt to nations and it's time to collect.That's going to create some problems.
"Wars and rumors of wars".
Reply
ronEbear 11:17AM (2/18/2009)
OK there friend, keep your fictional stories in the books they belong. It`s people like you who would even go out of their way to ensure that yet another self-fulfilling prophecy is realized.
jc 11:58AM (2/18/2009)
Well .I can see You're already looking for someone to blame.
Fact is .The world is being destabilized by the world financial collapse which in no small part was due to greed.
TigerMil 11:58AM (2/18/2009)
"Ding""Ding""Ding"
Right on! Witness the Saudi oil minister noting that too low oil prices stop investing in oil exploration and production improvements. Low oil prices simply exacerbate the fragile monarchies/dictatorships in the oil oligarchies....Time for the arabs to throw øff their yokes and arise!!
Of course, that makes it tough øn the rest of the world that is still sucking on the oil teat.
the vegas style guy 12:52PM (2/18/2009)
!Brilliant quote!
ronEbear 1:20PM (2/18/2009)
"The world is being destabilized by the world financial collapse which in no small part was due to greed."
Exactly, and according to religious texts, greed is a sin. Most of the world follows religion of some sort and the U.S.A is 85% Christian. So, world leaders are hypocrites if the state of world financial affairs are so dim, due to greed. So what`s my point? People like you who think "oh well, the Bible (literally: the books) says it`s going to happen so there`s nothing we can do otherwise." and people who choose only specific things to adhere to relating to their respective religions.
Like I said, leave your fictional stories in the books that contain them.
13enS 1:55PM (2/18/2009)
@ ronEbear
Take your soapbox elsewhere. There are 3000 helpless cars in the Islamic nation of Dubai. May God, Allah, Buddha, or your pocketbook save them!
jc 2:49PM (2/18/2009)
@RonEbear.
"Leave Your fictional stories in the books that contain them"
You too.
Rainy99 11:08AM (2/18/2009)
It will be interesting to see what happens to Dubai. The extent of their boom is truly staggering. Will the bust be as bad?
Reply
Sea Urchin 11:33AM (2/18/2009)
I depends on oil. If USA and the world will stop using oil Dubai will turn into sub saharan Africa.
The region depends on oil, all those construction and finance companies are in there because there's oil money, once oil money is out............... everyone will be out.
Yaroukh 11:51AM (2/18/2009)
@Sea Urchin: As for Dubai turning into desert because of weak oil-demand:
"Although Dubai's economy was built on the back of the oil industry, revenues from oil and natural gas currently account for less than 6% of the emirate's revenues."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai#Economy
Baltimore 11:57AM (2/18/2009)
In Response to Sea Urchin:
Oil is not their main source of income...
"The emirate's revenues are from tourism, trade, real estate and financial services.[7] Revenues from petroleum and natural gas contribute less than 6% (2006)[8] of Dubai's US$ 37 billion economy (2005).[9] Real estate and construction, on the other hand, contributed 22.6% to the economy in 2005, before the current large-scale construction boom.[10] Dubai has attracted worldwide attention through innovative real estate projects [11] and sports events. This increased attention, coinciding with its emergence as a world business hub, has also highlighted human rights issues concerning its largely foreign workforce.[12]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai
LloydChiro 12:02PM (2/18/2009)
If real estate construction is the biggest part of the economy, and they built all of the real estate on the oil economy, they are in for a big collapse.
jrhmobile 12:03PM (2/18/2009)
@Yaroukh: It doesn't matter so much how much Dubai makes in oil revenues as it does that if everyone else in the region who makes oil revenues could stop spending stupid money in Dubai. If the flow of Petro-dollars stops, the dream of turning Dubai into a commerce and vacation destination could turn to dust and blow away.
I just hope they have deep pockets to ride out the crunch ...
Jakesnake1294 12:15PM (2/18/2009)
@ yaroukh,
I have been there quite a few times myself (I install high end audio/video systems) and I also don't think that oil is the strength of Dubai's economy. It's strength is its future. Soon all of the world will want to visit there and be a part of its magnificence!.
Dubai is an amazing place built out of nothing. There are truly spectacular buildings everywhere, and there are shopping opportunities like nowhere else in the world.
To those who might wish to visit, I suggest that you wait. The only people there now are contractors like myself. There were very few tourists. A few Poles and other Eastern Europeans with little money. The Russian prostitutes are very entertaining though. I don't know if Dubai will be the jewel of the world like it is hoped to be, but I do appreciate the opportunities that it has given me and my fellow workers.
tanooki2003 12:27PM (2/18/2009)
Wow Sea Urchin,
I knew you had a bit of ignorance, judging by your previous comments on other subjects but wow...I had no idea you are really this ignorant.
I guess it goes to show you what fools one can make of themselves if they cheat and party their way through middle and high school.