Dubai’s debt crisis, one year later Mark Hulbert - MarketWatch

Sovereign debt crises are the Lord’s way of teaching geography to U.S. investors.

So goes the joke that has made the rounds in some circles. And, like most jokes, it has an element of truth.

After all, prior to Dubai’s debt crisis that erupted one year ago this week, how many investors in the United States would have been able to find Dubai on a map? And of those few who would have been able to, how many had an inkling that the financial woes at a previously unknown company called Dubai World would soon spread to Greece and then to other countries throughout Europe — in the process nearly bringing down the European Monetary Union and the financial markets in general?