Question #15 from Chapter 15:“There is an ‘unhealthy correlation’ between the building of skyscrapers and subsequentfinancial crashes,” according to Barclays Capital.Examples include the world’s first skyscraper, the Equitable Life building in New York(completed in 1873 and coincided with a five-year recession), the Empire State building(the Great Depression was under way), Chicago’s Willis Tower – formerly known as theSears Tower – in 1974 (during an oil shock and when the U.S. dollar’s reliance on goldwas abandoned), and Malaysia’s Petronas Towers in 1997 (corresponding to the Asianfinancial crisis).Currently, the world’s tallest skyscraper is the Burj Khalifa (built just before Dubai’sfinancial troubles).China is the biggest builder of skyscrapers, with 53% of all the tall buildings in the world.JPMorgan Chase said that the Chinese property market could drop by as much as 20%in value in the country’s major cities within the next 12 to 18 months.
