Word: gulf
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...region's most dynamic economies. The city state developed a kind of signature swagger, expressed most gaudily in the gargantuan real estate projects - an indoor ski slope, man-made islands shaped like palm fronds, the world's tallest building - that have turned a sandy sliver on the Gulf into one of the world's fastest-growing cities. (See 10 things to do in Dubai...
...pictures of migrant workers in the Gulf...
...economic boom in the gulf countries over the past few years - fueled by the continuous rise of oil prices between 2003 and 2008 - helped put the region on the global economic map. In some ways, the boom became captive to a "mine is bigger than yours" syndrome. Competing states embarked on advertising campaigns and hired in public-relations firms to tout their wares. Developers and rulers alike pushed artificial islands (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait), and in many places real estate became the main economic activity. Officials promoted their cities as financial hubs as a way to diversify away...
...funds acquired foreign assets with the flair of peacocks. The humility that typified the past was supplanted by conspicuous consumption. Yes, all that infrastructure and new property that was built still exists - but its quality and engineering is, in many cases, dubious. (See pictures of migrant workers in the Gulf...
...Saudi Arabia's economy went through a long-drawn-out slowdown as oil revenues plummeted for most of the 1980s. After a spike when Iraq invaded Kuwait, prices weakened again in the 1990s, even as Saudi struggled to pay off its (large) chunk of the bill for the first Gulf War. At the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1998, oil prices had fallen to just $12 a barrel. This meant that Saudi Arabia - which sells its precious black gold at a discount, on average - was getting just $7 a barrel. Deficit financing was the only solution...