The construction of enormous skyscrapers has an “unhealthy” link with looming financial

The construction of enormous skyscrapers has an “unhealthy” link with looming financial crises and investors should therefore keep a close eye on China and India, Barclays Capital said.

China is currently the biggest builder of skyscrapers, while booming India is constructing the second largest tower in the world, the investment bank said in its latest annual ‘Skyscraper Index’ survey.

“Our Skyscraper Index continues to show an unhealthy correlation between construction of the next world’s tallest building and an impending financial crisis — New York 1930; Chicago 1974; Kuala Lumpur 1997 and Dubai 2010,” Barclays Capital said in a report.

“Yet often the world’s tallest buildings are simply the edifice of a broader skyscraper building boom, reflecting a widespread misallocation of capital and an impending economic correction.

“Investors should therefore pay particular attention to China, today’s biggest builder… and India, which with just two completed skyscrapers, now has 14 skyscrapers under construction.”

Barclays Capital warned of a “bubble” in China, whose property boom has been powered by cheap liquidity.

“Looking forward, using skyscrapers under construction, it is evident that the skyscraper boom in China continues to grow,” it said.

“China will complete 53 percent of the 124 skyscrapers under construction over the next six years, expanding the number in Chinese cities by a staggering 87 percent.

The Great Depression hit as the finishing touches were being put on three record-breaking buildings in New York: 40 Wall Street, the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, which were all completed between 1929 and 1931, Barclays noted in a Jan. 10 report.

The economic and oil crises of the 1970s coincided with the completion of the twin towers at New York’s World Trade Center, in 1972 and 1973, and Chicago’s Sears Tower in 1974.

History repeats itself!

Source AP and Yahoo