After a quick jaunt through Copenhagen, I have finally arrived again here at financial crisis 'Ground Zero'... Dubai. I will be located and posting from here for the next 7-8 weeks...

First Impressions: This town is DEAD. The airport was nearly empty and the flights I've taken to here over the past year get less and less busy. The 12 lane highway providing the Axis of the city was nearly empty as well... long gone are the massive traffic jams of the past.

The poster child of the naughties over-optimism in capitalism and the ability to take debt, future promises of richness, ambition and drive and find success is Dubai. Flying in this morning and seeing the Burj Dubai dominating the horizon while still miles from landing (the building is awe inspiringly tall) the feeling was one of trepidation, is the post-apcoloyptic dream I've always had regarding the future of Dubai actually going to prove to be true? In Copenhagen I saw a BBC report on the delayed debt of Dubai World and had read some of my valued co-writers comments here on the board, so I knew the 'delay' was big news. Well... it should be. This city is a ticking time bomb of a financial mess (what's happened so far in my opinion is just the start) and a perfect example that the current state of capitalism is on seriously suspect foundations.

Who saw what was happening here and seriously believed that this was visionary stuff? Everyone it seems. I for one had always believed it was sheer madness and a transparent image of excess; a symbolic statue being built to deregulation and financial blue sky thinking gone wild. I believe what will remain here in time may resemble the stone remains in Shelly's Ozimandious 'look upon my works ye mighty and despair!"... an omen to overconfidence and ambition. The desert will most likely swallow up vast tracks of half finished construction started by the worlds greatest optimist nation. Where was the risk analysis when a city of less than 1 million people started building an infrastructure worthy of 10 million and openly stating that the city would host some 10 million in the next 10-15 years. They also spent like a city of 10 million, accumulating debt based on the misconception that they had oil, when in fact it is Abu Dhabi who owns the reserves.

A simple drive through the enormous construction site of Jebel Ali will tell you everything you need to know... it's a maze of half constructed houses, towers, and various vanity projects including a massive new airport and of course the start of the amusement park complex which was to overtake Disney World (who actually thought that was a good idea in a country which has soaring heat for more than half the year?). All that remains of that particular dream is a completed universal studios sign in front of open desert.

What I really look forward to on this trip is being able to:

1) Go check out the gold souk and the Dubai Creek area... my ever favorite part of Dubai and the only bit that makes sense (and has culture). I look forward to posting some observations from some metal experts at the source!

2) Speak with my contacts in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and see what the juxtaposition of these two worlds and views are (one built conservatively on firm foundations; the other a risk nightmare come true)

3) Dig a little into the rising tide of concern regarding the source of the gold flowing though Dubai (illegal gold fulling the war in the Congo? Ethical and non-ethical gold in our future?)

4) Build my business here with a clear message of long term sustainability and vision, operational optimization and solid risk management. Bringing this message here the last 5 years resulted in hysterical fits of laughter (Ha! Operational efficiency? Using Excel and 1,000 Indians can solve any problem I encounter). I think green shoots will emerge and a viable city will exist here, but there is a long, long way to go.

5) Getting to grips with what the effect of the ongoing crash here may mean for the global financial world. This place had nearly everyones money invested in it and the 56 billion of Dubai World is the tip of the iceberg. While it is widely reported that Dubai owes some 80 billion in total, what often gets lost is that property values here are still almost entirely owned by foreigners and massively and artificially overpriced.

Anyhow, anyone with questions you'd like answered from the region, please post and I'll do my best. Loving the post recently, this board feels alive and strong!

-Soul in the desert