lifestyle leader

A final thought on Dubai: don't discount the city-state's long-term prospects too much. Service-based economies with weak domestic demand (or in Dubai's case almost no indigenous population) are destined to be pro-cyclical. The vision to become a financial, services, transport and residential hub in a region with limited integrated infrastructure and service capacity, as well as tremendous development potential, seems a sound one. If the new silk road will be paved with microchips, euros and renminbi, Dubai could very well become the great marketplace connecting east and west.