tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11791864.post3789995738317319818..comments2024-03-23T15:06:14.726+01:00Comments on .: On Heights (of buildings, incomes, growth and fear of it)Sietskehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12063618922778363385noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11791864.post-48111787526433324492010-04-24T00:19:30.927+01:002010-04-24T00:19:30.927+01:00I remember the woods near our house. I remember th...I remember the woods near our house. I remember the woods that you drove through to reach the school. I remember the sunsets from many a balcony. I remember the sea that you could see nearly uninterrupted from Sour till Tripoli. I remember... <br />Well, I guess I'm getting old :)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11126213360044713711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11791864.post-250001229647531452010-04-23T22:44:11.945+01:002010-04-23T22:44:11.945+01:00I hear you. I wonder when Monte Verde, the green m...I hear you. I wonder when Monte Verde, the green mountain, will nit be Verde anymore because every little verde spot has to be filled with super duper deluxe...<br />What a shame!!!<br />GinniAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11791864.post-59060010166800428542010-04-22T13:29:16.786+01:002010-04-22T13:29:16.786+01:00"I don’t think anyone can come with hard proo...<i>"I don’t think anyone can come with hard proof and figures on paper as to why this economy seems to be growing (some 7% in 2009 ), yet people continue to have shitty incomes."</i><br /><br />It's not as great a mystery as you think. Increasing profits leads to higher inequality. Although profits are paid to wealthy shareholders, employees who are in powerful positions relative to their companies - i.e. managers, bankers, skilled employees - can credibly threaten to leave their employer and therefore can extract some of the profits for themselves. Workers who are in a weak bargaining position cannot do this and thus their wages remain low.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11791864.post-83243042193917352582010-04-20T21:19:54.211+01:002010-04-20T21:19:54.211+01:00Well no need to get racist towards Gulf people abo...Well no need to get racist towards Gulf people about it! In fact, although it's true that a lot of people from the Gulf are buying these apartments, the majority of demand these days comes from Lebanese expatriates. And the Central Bank issued directives that most certainly helped avoid an economic crisis. Riad Salameh, governor of the Central Bank, even received a price for it.<br /><br />Proof of what I'm saying can be found at the following links, or you can contact me since I'm writing my thesis on this subject...<br />http://blog.taragana.com/business/2010/01/22/luxury-building-boom-transforms-beirut-as-lebanon-becomes-a-financial-draw-23376/; http://www.creditlibanais.info/template.asp?id=409; http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=113868#Mariekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08723215173144583062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11791864.post-49111610939042506772010-04-20T08:31:39.778+01:002010-04-20T08:31:39.778+01:00I hate how smug Lebanese are about the financial c...I hate how smug Lebanese are about the financial crisis point. The Lebanese economy wasn't affected by the financial meltdown because the Lebanese economy was already in tatters. It would have been quite a feat to get much worse. And yet people are proud, how pathetic!<br /><br />Of all these buildings going up and selling for ridiculous prices, how many are being sold to Lebanese? The majority are gulf owners buying up insanely overpriced flats and raising the price for the whole market, no Lebanese can possibly compete with them and that is how we are being driven out of our cities. I've been house hunting for a while now, and the prices being asked for in Beirut are just sickening: It isn't just that the price is inflated, the types of buildings being built aren't targeting the Lebanese market [really? super super deluxe apartments for rent at $70,000/yr? why yes that is totally logical and affordable!]<br /><br />Basically this has come around as a result of the repealing of the law in the late 90s which imposed restrictions on the amount of land a foreigner can own in the country, as well as repealing the 23% tax foreigners had to pay when buying in the country. The Hariri/Saniora government got rid of these pesky restrictions so they could market Solidere to their Saudi buddies, and they've succeeded in selling us all out.<br /><br />I hope I'm still alive when peak oil comes around and all these bastards get sent back to their deserts on a bunch of camels.vicnoreply@blogger.com