Skyscraper Index

I chanced upon a reference to the skyscraper index on the internet a few days ago.

The admittedly whimsical concept, as per the wiki article, suggests that the commencement of a super tall skyscraper project has often coincided with the eve of economic downturns.

The Chrysler Building project, gunning for the tallest building in the world crown was launched in 1928 shortly before the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.

Next in line were the Sears Tower in Chicago and the World Trade Centre towers in New York. The projects were launched in 1973 - just before the oil crisis and the stock market crash of 1973.

Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were launched a little before the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997.

Burj Dubai was launched a little before the 2008 Financial Crisis.
Construction of the Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia, the first building in the world expected to be more than a kilometer tall began in 2013 and the price of oil went into free-fall in early 2014 - putting severe strain on the finances of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

These are an interesting series of coincidences. While nobody is suggesting a direct cause and effect relationship between the commencement of a skyscraper project and economic crises, the correlation is indeed rather strong.