How Dubai became a model for free trade, openness and ambition
economist.com
economist.com
I am amazed it got published in the Torygraph !
It’s not like all other countries are paragons of human rights. If your country’s justice system puts innocent folk in solitary confinement for three years without trial over a false accusation (Kalief Browder), or if your country’s law enforcement murders innocent people unacceptably often and rarely gets punished for it, then you need to “take the log out of your eye” before accusing others.
You don't have to be a "paragon of human rights" to do better, or much better, than another country. And Dubai is pretty damn law by all standards.
That said, you do have a point in the hypocrisy of how not only some countries's citizens routinely paint something as uniquely outrageous despite the same or worse things going on in their countries (key word here being "uniquely", as in "look at what those savages do", or "this would never happen here at home").
But also on how some countries are praised by the same pundits (despite their abuses and absolute power) and others are condemned (because of theirs).
It's almost as if the concern is not with the abuses and power dynamics, but with the interests of the nations and the power elites that pay the journalist's salaries.
'Human rights organizations have complained about violations of human rights in Dubai.[2] Most notably, some of the 250,000 foreign laborers in the city have been alleged to live in conditions described by Human Rights Watch as being "less than humane".'
When can we stop glorifying these modern day fief lords for being "ambitious visionaries"? In a planet with still so much suffering, they contribute nothing, they leech resources to live obscene lives, they build nothing useful, they improve nobody's life... They are parasites.
Dubai did many things right to lure in business and traffic. Dubai's DIFC Courts (independent English language common law judiciary) [1] were a really good idea for example. Still the Dubai as a business is not sustainable. Of course you attract business and traffic if you subsidize it with lavish infrastructure, low bureaucracy and no regard for human rights.
Dubai is oil and gas subsidized business hub. The vision is to build something that lasts when the gas runs out, but there is no evidence that this enterprise will ever be sustainable. It's build on the sand both literally and figuratively.
[1]: DIFC Court is for business. The civil law in the Dubai is medieval.
That might change in the coming years / decades (as I also believe VAT is being introduced) but nevertheless a good base if you're operating internationally.
Maybe you don't like the gilded cage that is Monaco, or you think it is bad value -- $1m will likely not even get you a nice studio apt in Monaco, but it will go a lot further in Dubai. If you're renting $10k or 20k a month will get you a lot more in Dubai than it will in Monaco. But you do want the tax benefits of not paying any tax.
England is great as a non dom, but there are restrictions on what you can and cannot do. Perhaps you are British and you cannot get non-dom status. Perhaps your main business lies in the UK and thus you can't avoid UK tax.
Perhaps you want geographical proximity to a certain area, i.e. (Eastern) Europe, or Africa, or India.
There are many reasons why people opt for certain jurisdictions.
Good things about Dubai: easy to travel, free trade zone, no taxes, and judiciary that meets western standards (for business, the civil law in the Emirate is medieval).
I 'm sure there are but its not clear a) if they started their businesses there and b) if dubai played an essential role other than being low-tax.
However, they are all spending their money in Dubai (property, purchases, etc), so generally a net win for the local economy.
A lot of foreign brands (i.e. supermarkets, car manufacturers, certain fashion brands) are concessions that are held by local Emirati families granted to them decades ago by the Sheikh. So those profits mostly flow back to the local Emirati population.
Dubai is also benefiting from the general tax and secrecy crack-down in all of EU and OECD countries like malta, cyprus ireland, switzerland, singapore (Dubai was until very recently non-cooperative jurisdiction) but it's not clear whether this will last forever. It will be interesting to see whether the UK will seek to lower taxes post-brexit.
Then you realise that you haven't seen a single owner - a single citizen.
Then you next wonder: how much does that occur in my own city and country (in a different form)?
Anyone have recommendations for an American citizen? Preferably a place with good cycling infrastructure and can live cheap and safely?
Cycling in dubai is.... well, uncomfortable.
The Dubai Roadsters are the only serious group that I know of[1]. The flats are really quite boring, and the dust really kills my appetite for air after a while. Also, cycling during the summer (8/12 months) isn't really recommended. If you can tolerate the heat, go for it.
[0] https://www.meetup.com/Dubai-Data-Science-Meetup/ [1] http://www.dubairoadsters.com/
>Fraudsters ‘turning Dubai into the new Costa del Crime’
>Emirate being used to hide millions in tax, say UK investigators
If they do pass through them when laundered it just because its easier for some reason than some other banks (e.g. not American owned etc), not because anybody at HSBC and co collaborates actively with these people.