Burj Khalifa: Wise Men Learn From Mistakes Of Others

In Russian there is an expression:The wise man learns from someone else’s mistakes, the smart man learns from his own, and the stupid one never learns.  You’d think I’d be putting the Chinese government in the latter category – obviously the Chinese have not learned from Dubai’s mistakes, and they don’t seem to want to learn from their own empty shopping malls and cities which, based on these Google Earth images, are scattered all over China.

So erecting a $1.3 billion “seven-star hotel” when Beijing’s office vacancy rate was over 20% just a year ago (I doubt it has changed much, considering how much they’ve built in a year) would appear to be less than smart. Wrong! It is brilliant!  The report also states, “The Saudi side was expected to foot the entire bill.”  The “Saudi side” will bear the eventual losses.

Burj Khalifa

I thought what the author said above was pretty interesting. Now that China said that its building Burj Khalifa Number 2, there has been a lot of hype surrounding it. On how China is climbing so quickly, dominating the world in no time after it has taken over Japan as the 2nd largest economy. Its appetite seems to be getting bigger.

But the problem then comes, "Can China bite off more than it can chew?"

It seems to have forgetten that there might be severe repercussions. I just read up on Economics about the theory of the law of diminishing returns and economic profits.

Burj Khalifa Height

In short, could China have spent those money more wisely on developing something else? Things that could propel it further in its lead in certain fields like automobiles, clean green technology, etc.

Burj Khalifa spectacular view

Automobiles is going green and the best part is China is in the lead when it comes to the spending on Green Technology as well. So why not focus on these 2 fields and build up a synergy then? It could very well be the next big thing and China could be in the spotlight for quite some time should this project be immensely successful.

Burj Khalifa

Rather than being divided in attention and diversifying like a reckless drunk kid. China should stay focused and continue to do what it does best, sticking to its hedgehog concept.

Perhaps, its time for time to review their strategies and policies once again. Its not good to be always in the spotlight, especially when its not even sustainable.

Credits -yeinjee, -roslihanip, -accettura, -forbes, -travelandtourism