Skyscraper, Erection Index and Malaysia Triplet Tower

Some call it Skyscraper Index, some call it Tallest Building Indicator and some call it Erection Index (to a man, it could mean something else though).  Also some call it Tower of Babel indicator.

882834-babel_largeIt is actually  a humorous look at the 'relation between large skyscrapers completion and economic cycles".

According to moneyweek.com, the indicator was “nearly perfect”, showing “an unhealthy 100-year correlation”, suggesting that the construction of ever-taller buildings was a good warning sign of a looming economic slowdown

KLCC twin towers were completed in time to welcome the Asian crisis in 1998. In 1997 Malaysian stocks had already fallen by 69% in dollar terms.

Highlights:
Shanghai World Financial Center (3rd tallest building in the world) -- Topped on 2007 9/14 -- 1 month before SSEX top (crashed from 6000 to 1600)
Burj Dubai -- Completed on late October 09 --"Dubai announced that it had completed the exterior of the building and within two months, the Dubai government came close to defaulting on its loans"
For Malaysian, we going to have more towering skyscrapers. Not one but at least two 100-storey building and maybe three.

"Even though the actual designs of the three structures have not been finalised, two appeared to have a 100-storey building each. This could rival the highest structure in the country — the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers, completed in 1997 at a cost of US$1.2 billion (RM4.05 billion)"  Local news

Interesting remark by Phil Anderson (moneyweek.com) on huge skyscraper "as any decent architect could tell you (although economists these days seem strangely unaware of the fact), tall buildings are just built to make the land pay. As a general rule, a skyscraper is a speculative project, built mostly by developers with other people’s money."

ust like I recalled it, in the Lord of the Ring movie trilogy, the (just) two towers enough to really gives a lot of problem to the people of the Middle Earth.

skyscraper index 
check out other commentary :
100-storey skyscrapers planned for KL
Further reading:
Pride before the fall :  Malaysia Today
Skyscraper index : moneyweek    
Skyscraper and business cycles: mises    
Tower of babel: safehaven