Casting a critical eye over Dubai has become a thing in the international business press of late. It’s not a revival of the 2008-era “cars of indebted foreigners left at the airport” meme, but a more subtle one. To take but two recent examples: A ‘white-collar recession’ is rippling through Dubai’s economy, the Wall Street Journal suggests, writing that “the Middle East’s most cosmopolitan city is losing some of the high-paying jobs that powered its rise as a global financial hub from a desert outpost.” Nicholas Parasie’s piece is balanced and thoughtful, but would have benefitted by carefully separating the woes of players with domestic problems (Emirates Airlines, local real estate players, domestic banks) from those who are being buffeted by alleged malfeasance (Abraaj) or global / secular challenges (Deutsche Bank, OSN, PR firm Edelman). In the same vein, Bloomberg writes that the “haven for Middle East money” is “losing its shine.”

Apple is in “bear market” territory, and even non-iSheep think that’s bad news for US stocks, the WSJ suggests, writing that some investors “question whether the U.S. stock rally can regain its footing without the leadership of the world’s most valuable public company. Investors have flocked for years toward Apple and a handful of other companies in the technology sector because of their ability to consistently increase sales regardless of global economic growth. But recent trade tensions between the U.S. and China and signs of slowing tech-sector revenue growth have dimmed their prospects.”

And George Kennan wept: The New York Times has launched a multi-part series headlined “China Rules” on how Beijing “squared the demands of authoritarian rule with the needs of free markets … for longer, at greater scale and with more convincing results than any other. The question now is whether it can sustain this model with the United States as an adversary rather than a partner.” The first installment of the package is brilliantly written and accompanied by gorgeous imagery that bring the nation to life. The second installment is due in about a week. A must read.

From the Department of the Obvious (at least to us): Why America struggles to sell LNG to Europe. Just like in real estate, it is about location, location, location, writes the Economist.