Now they are stuck with them and can do nothing to fight the competition, since Dubai is, in essence, a tax-free zone with access to cheap labour from the Indian subcontinent.

ECONOMIST: Aviation

With the blessings of the government of Laos and help from international investors, he plans to build more hotels and casinos, housing estates, a motor-racing stadium, tea plantations, an airport and a tax-free banking zone.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Bad Boys Abound in 'Vegas East'

If it accelerated the region's recovery, the Japanese might then ask themselves: why not make the whole country a low tax, bureaucracy-free zone?

ECONOMIST: Japan's disaster and business reform

She tells her cabdriver to take her anywhere and ends up riding to the Free Zone in Jordan, a tax-free area where the Israeli cabdriver, Hanna, must go to collect money from Palestinian business partners.

NPR: Israeli Director Deconstructs a Troubled House