Antony Herrey on the coming collapse in Dubai (2008)

Having experienced my fair share of severe down cycles over more than four decades as a real estate developer and investor, the extravagant reports emanating from the Emirates over the past decade or more of islands created in the sea, mile-high skyscrapers in the desert, artificial ski slopes under glass, endless new quantities of unsold condominiums overlooking the Gulf, and the like foretold for me one of the most spectacular collapses of any bubble bust in the long history of excessive speculation. This could not possibly end, it seemed to me, without a horrendous downturn that would turn many of these new monster structures into empty ruins.

~ Antony Herrey, Austrians in Finance chat group, October 20, 2008

Joshua Powell on the Skyscraper Index

Economist Mark Lawrence created the Skyscraper Index in 1999. That index showed the correlation between economic crashes and tall buildings. The correlation can be unnerving, especially for those in the architecture profession, such as myself. But the past 100 years show strong evidence for Lawrence – almost every time the tallest building in the world is built, there is an economic crash to follow. 1907 brought the Singer Building and the Panic of 1907, 1931 brought the Empire State Building and the Great Depression, the early 1970s brought the Sears Tower and seventies stagflation, and the late nineties brought the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the meltdown in the Asian markets. Today is no different. We have the tallest building in the world going up, the Burj Dubai, at the same time that the economy is coming down. The suggestion is that while city skylines are often seen as a symbol of a city’s prosperity, they are also an implication of depression, each of the highest peaks likely representing a crash.

~ Joshua Powell, "The Dollar and the Tower Get in Bed," LewRockwell.com, December 5, 2008

Gazprom planning to build 1,300-foot tower in St. Petersberg

Built by Peter the Great as Russia's gateway to the West, St. Petersburg is known for its baroque and neoclassical architecture. So a 1,300-foot tower planned by Russia's energy giant Gazprom that exceeds zoning laws has critics aghast - and Unesco threatening to yank the city's World Heritage designation. But Gazprom is St. Pete's largest taxpayer, and the city is helping finance the project, which a Gazprom spokesperson says represents the "ambition of new Russia." The smart rubles are on the tower's getting built.

~ "Nyet in My Backyard," Fortune, March 3, 2008, by Eugenia Levenson

(Tapei 101 has held the title as "World's Tallest Building" since 2004 with a roof height of 1,474 feet.)