Thank goodness the Dubai area is geologically stable, because its regional politics and economics certainly aren't.
Pretty soon some 12,000 people will be living and working in the Burj Dubai, a soaring 818m needle of glass, concrete and steel that overshadows the diminished real estate on the desert floor that is Dubai.
At least that's what the owners of the world's tallest building hope as they officially open the centrepiece of the 202ha development this week. The project is one of superlatives. Not least that it will house the world's highest mosque nearly 160 storeys above ground. It cost $1.5 billion to build, according to Dubai’s state-owned developer, Emaar. It's a building without peer, although a number of other super-structures are being constructed elsewhere on the globe and in nearby Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It's also a testament to the day the world stopped viewing Dubai as the Neverland of economic prosperity, effectively deserting the Las Vegas of the Arabian desert.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Start the bidding: Rome Home Depot for sale
By REBECCA CRONISER
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Jan 01, 2010 @ 04:49 PM
ROME —
Just $1.9 million. That’s what is needed to start the bidding Jan. 19-20 in the online auction for the former Home Depot building in Rome.
It could be a deal for the property, which is assessed at nearly $7.2 million.
But finding someone interested in the building is going to be tough, officials say.
“I don’t see it going,” said Rome Mayor James Brown. “It’s tough the way the economy is. Nobody is really expanding at this point in time.”
The giant orange and beige retail store on Rome-Taberg Road has sat empty since it closed in the summer of 2008.
The store wasn’t open for long in Rome. The 112,940-square-foot building — with 19,646-square-feet of outdoor side yard — opened in 2003.
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Jan 01, 2010 @ 04:49 PM
ROME —
Just $1.9 million. That’s what is needed to start the bidding Jan. 19-20 in the online auction for the former Home Depot building in Rome.
It could be a deal for the property, which is assessed at nearly $7.2 million.
But finding someone interested in the building is going to be tough, officials say.
“I don’t see it going,” said Rome Mayor James Brown. “It’s tough the way the economy is. Nobody is really expanding at this point in time.”
The giant orange and beige retail store on Rome-Taberg Road has sat empty since it closed in the summer of 2008.
The store wasn’t open for long in Rome. The 112,940-square-foot building — with 19,646-square-feet of outdoor side yard — opened in 2003.
Start the bidding: Rome Home Depot for sale
By REBECCA CRONISER
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Jan 01, 2010 @ 04:49 PM
ROME —
Just $1.9 million. That’s what is needed to start the bidding Jan. 19-20 in the online auction for the former Home Depot building in Rome.
It could be a deal for the property, which is assessed at nearly $7.2 million.
But finding someone interested in the building is going to be tough, officials say.
“I don’t see it going,” said Rome Mayor James Brown. “It’s tough the way the economy is. Nobody is really expanding at this point in time.”
The giant orange and beige retail store on Rome-Taberg Road has sat empty since it closed in the summer of 2008.
The store wasn’t open for long in Rome. The 112,940-square-foot building — with 19,646-square-feet of outdoor side yard — opened in 2003.
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Jan 01, 2010 @ 04:49 PM
ROME —
Just $1.9 million. That’s what is needed to start the bidding Jan. 19-20 in the online auction for the former Home Depot building in Rome.
It could be a deal for the property, which is assessed at nearly $7.2 million.
But finding someone interested in the building is going to be tough, officials say.
“I don’t see it going,” said Rome Mayor James Brown. “It’s tough the way the economy is. Nobody is really expanding at this point in time.”
The giant orange and beige retail store on Rome-Taberg Road has sat empty since it closed in the summer of 2008.
The store wasn’t open for long in Rome. The 112,940-square-foot building — with 19,646-square-feet of outdoor side yard — opened in 2003.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Italy's Tax Amnesty Brings in $114 Billion
MILAN -- Requests by individuals to repatriate funds under a tax-amnesty plan launched in October totaled about €80 billion (about $114 billion) as of Dec. 15, a top government official said Tuesday.
Last week Economy Minister
The Italian government in October launched the tax-amnesty plan, the third in the past eight years, which allowed Italians to repatriate funds deposited in tax havens out of Italy through Dec. 15. As part of the plan, people would have to pay a 5% fine on the total amount of assets repatriated and wouldn't have to declare how they earned the money. In November, Mr. Tremonti estimated windfall tax revenue for the government at up to €4 billion.
Small domestic asset managers as well as private-banking boutiques have benefited most from the flood of new funds, as Italy's two largest domestic retail banks -- Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and UniCredit SpA -- weren't able to attract large sums of assets deposited offshore, according to several people involved in the tax-amnesty plan.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
From Ceausescu to the New Italy
he recent election in Romania, in which President Traian Basescu was re-elected with 50.3% of the vote, underlined why, 20 years after the fall of Ceausescu, Romania has become the new Italy.
In both countries, politics are hard-fought, polarized, and periodically bizarre. The comedy and melodrama of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are well known. But the failed impeachment of Mr. Basescu and the odd bedfellows and political pillow fights of Romanian politics are rarely noted outside Bucharest.
The parallels are remarkable. Both countries reclaimed democracy when they executed their dictators Benito Mussolini (April 28, 1945) and Nicolae Ceausescu (December 25, 1989). Both emerged from dictatorship flat on their backs economically and with many friends in the West fearing they would not sustain democracy. And within 20 years, with support from America and Western Europe, both became firmly democratic, much more prosperous, and economically and militarily relevant members of the European Union and NATO.
In both countries, politics are hard-fought, polarized, and periodically bizarre. The comedy and melodrama of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are well known. But the failed impeachment of Mr. Basescu and the odd bedfellows and political pillow fights of Romanian politics are rarely noted outside Bucharest.
The parallels are remarkable. Both countries reclaimed democracy when they executed their dictators Benito Mussolini (April 28, 1945) and Nicolae Ceausescu (December 25, 1989). Both emerged from dictatorship flat on their backs economically and with many friends in the West fearing they would not sustain democracy. And within 20 years, with support from America and Western Europe, both became firmly democratic, much more prosperous, and economically and militarily relevant members of the European Union and NATO.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
2nd UPDATE:Italy Econ Min: EUR95B Declared Under Tax Amnesty
MILAN (Dow Jones)--Under the Italian government's tax amnesty plan, assets worth EUR95 billion have been declared, of which 98% will be brought back to Italy from offshore, the Italian Economy Ministry said Tuesday, citing data as of Dec. 15.
"This is a positive dividend from the London G20," said Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti in a phone interview. "The era of banking secrecy is over."
Tremonti was referring to the meeting of the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations in London in April where world leaders took measures aimed at repairing the financial system to lift the economy from a global recession.
The EUR95 billion figure was well above the ministry's previous total of EUR80 billion. The higher figure is because of "a lastminute acceleration" in people making a voluntary disclosure, Tremonti said.
In an emailed statement, the ministry also said the extension of the plan to April 2010 would be the "last one and definitive." In December, Tremonti announced the extension of the plan but with higher fees. Italians who repatriate assets by Feb. 28 will have to pay a 6% fee on those assets, while assets declared by April 30 will have a 7% fee.
Tremonti declined to give a forecast of the total amount of funds that could be disclosed and repatriated.
In October, the Italian government started a tax amnesty plan that allowed Italians with undeclared assets hidden in tax shelters outside the country to repatriate them by paying a 5% fee.
"This is a positive dividend from the London G20," said Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti in a phone interview. "The era of banking secrecy is over."
Tremonti was referring to the meeting of the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations in London in April where world leaders took measures aimed at repairing the financial system to lift the economy from a global recession.
The EUR95 billion figure was well above the ministry's previous total of EUR80 billion. The higher figure is because of "a lastminute acceleration" in people making a voluntary disclosure, Tremonti said.
In an emailed statement, the ministry also said the extension of the plan to April 2010 would be the "last one and definitive." In December, Tremonti announced the extension of the plan but with higher fees. Italians who repatriate assets by Feb. 28 will have to pay a 6% fee on those assets, while assets declared by April 30 will have a 7% fee.
Tremonti declined to give a forecast of the total amount of funds that could be disclosed and repatriated.
In October, the Italian government started a tax amnesty plan that allowed Italians with undeclared assets hidden in tax shelters outside the country to repatriate them by paying a 5% fee.
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