Down and out in Las Vegas

"With the high oil prices, people don't have much disposable income to spend on gaming and entertainment. So we are looking at a short-term slump, certainly. In the longer term, everything depends on what's going to happen to oil prices."

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And on the horizon is further strife. As a hangover from the frenzied growth of two years ago, Las Vegas is also in the grip of a speculative building boom, with dozens of cranes towering over the Strip... The prevailing emotion among business leaders is a mixture of optimism and denial. The Association of Greater Las Vegas Realtors, for example, claims the housing market is finally turning the corner after a "correction" to the long-running bull market that had made Vegas America's hottest location for almost a decade.