Shukran, Abu Dhabi, thank you. Dubai's wealthier neighbour will, after all, bankroll the emirate's largest state-owned conglomerate and stave off default. In an apparent change of heart, it has made a $10bn down payment to tide over Dubai World until April. The parallel with Greece, another state that has lived beyond its means, is striking. Just as the United Arab Emirates was expected to back Dubai World and its quasi-sovereign risk, so the European Union and European Central Bank may yet support Athens – protests from Brussels and Frankfurt about Greek profligacy notwithstanding. Moral hazard is being writ large in the Gulf, and perhaps in Europe too.
謝謝，阿布扎比，謝謝你。杜拜這個更富有的鄰國最終還是決定爲杜拜最大的國有企業集團提供資金，避免其違約。在改變了先前的態度之後，阿布扎比已支付100億美元的首期資金，幫助杜拜世界(Dubai World)度過明年4月前的這段時間。與另一個入不敷出的國家希臘相比，兩者有驚人的相似之處。就像阿拉伯聯合大公國將支持杜拜世界及其準主權風險一樣，歐盟和歐洲央行(ECB)也有可能爲雅典提供支持——儘管兩者對希臘的肆意揮霍提出了異議。海灣地區的道德危機正在擴大，歐洲或許亦是如此。