16.09.2012 - 06:49 [ The Economist ]

Paradise losses: Dr No wannabes are finding that medium-priced islets were no great investment after all

Other uncertainties include building rules and environmental hassles: islands (except when owned by villains in adventure films) are still subject to somebody else’s laws and taxes. Nicolas Cage, a film star, found he could not add developments to his refuge in the Bahamas, because an endangered iguana lived there; he has since sold up. A seller feared he would be unable to dispose of two Pennsylvanian islands, after one got flooded by a river. He gave them to charity. Climate change could mean sea-levels rising. That would put many island investments underwater.