Dubai’s Hot 100 party last month was a reminder of the city’s high-rolling times before the credit crunch. The annual celebration, laid on by a magazine profiling the United Arab Emirates’ smart set, drew a crowd of boldfaced names: Thaksin Shinawatra, former Thai prime minister, mingled with developer Sulaiman al-Fahim, who brokered the sale of Manchester City football club to an Abu Dhabi sheikh.