The emirate's revenues are from trade, real estate and financial services. Revenues from petroleum and natural gas contribute less than 6% (2006)of Dubai's US$ 37 billion economy (2005). Real estate and construction, on the other hand, contributed 22.6% to the economy in 2005, before the current large-scale construction boom. Dubai has attracted worldwide attention through innovative real estate projects and sports events. This increased attention, coinciding with its emergence as a world business hub, has also highlighted human rights issues concerning its largely foreign workforce
I seem to remember a fascinating article posted here on FR back in 2006-07 about Dubai's "real estate boom." From what the article said, much of Dubai's economy was nothing more than smoke and mirrors -- built on an enormous run-up in real estate prices fueled by a massive influx of U.S. cash into the nation. And by that I mean real cash (i.e., real estate transactions conducted with bags of U.S. currency) . . . much of which could be traced to payments that had been made to defense contractors and Iraqi tribal leaders over the last few years.
There's a reason why the U.S. government stopped reporting the M3 measure of money supply back in 2005, folks.