His Point of View

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that last week the new “World’s Tallest Building” was opened in Dubai(the Burj Khalifa). I have read several articles about the fact that every time there has been an opening of a new World’s Tallest Building, the economy has been in a downturn. At the time when these buildings break ground there is a time of prosperity, which causes someone to splurge and break the old record. Without fail, the economy sours before construction is complete. The silver lining to this cloud is that after each economic downturn the world bounces back stronger and technology takes leaps ahead. We can only wait and see if 2011-2012 bring about a new round of prosperity, or if we will be in the throws of a massive recession/depression fueled by the crash of the Chinese economy(see the next paragraph for more on China’s possible problems).

I also came across the article below which describes James S. Chanos’s view that the global economy is about to take a massive turn further downward. This gentleman believes that the economy of China is about to take a plunge due to several factors and historical patterns. One very interesting suspicion James has is that China is cooking its books, releasing false growth and economic figures. I think this news could mean that the recession we saw (or still see, depending upon who you ask) would be tiny compared to what could happen if the economy of China tanks. I am not sure if a failing economy in China will help the US recovery efforts, because we all know that China is a huge creditor to the US. If the value of the dollar rises in relation to the Yuan, that could be a good thing but, a failing global economy could negate the positive effects many times over. Well people we are in for a ride, so hold on tight…Happy New Year!!!

Image from http://www.ctbuh.org This site has many interesting facts on the world’s tallest buildings