Dubai and the "Downturn"

This is a graph about the indebtedness of Dubai that I've had on my desktop for months. This was published before the economic crisis. It seems ominous in retrospect.

Anecdotally, I've noticed the roads in Dubai are more clear more often. A sign of reduced population here. The malls also seem to be more empty as well. I was in a somewhat deserted Times Square Mall last night and shoppers were few and far between despite Dubai Shopping Festival sales all around.

Day before yesterday I went to close out a small checking account at a local bank here. When I told the man I wanted to close the account he pulled out a paper and asked, "Are you leaving the country?" Replying no, I then asked if a lot of people were leaving the country and closing out accounts. He paused, nodded his head, and said "yes, they are".

This is a telling article from the NYTimes titled "Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down". Pretty grim.