Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are investment funds for government money. Essentially, these are for countries that get huge amounts of capital surpluses, such as China.

Interestingly enough, SWFs are running into some problems as asset values have fallen across the globe. A report from the Monitor Company Group indicates that these funds suffered losses of roughly $67 billion in the past year.

At the same time, there has been a reduction in capital infusions, primarily because of the drop in oil prices.

Sometimes in a recession, it's worth watching the little things for signs that the economy is getting worse.

Dubai is, by most measures, part of one of the richest countries in the world. It has vast supplies of oil, even though it is a small country Dubai is small geographically.

Yesterday, the news came out that a government-owned investment fund had fired 10% of its employees. According to the AP, "Istithmar World said Sunday it is cutting the 13 jobs because of 'external market conditions' and to match its resources with its current needs."

Granted, the price of oil has fallen, but the news may have a broader meaning. Middle East sovereign funds have provided investment capital to the West, including making large investments in some of the world's largest financial firms.

The U.S. government is still hoping that private capital will come into troubled U.S. banks so the the taxpayers are not the only investors. At the very least, the Treasury would like to see some of the money it has put into financial firms purchased by private equity operations sometime in the next year or two.

For now, it looks like the federal government won't get much help from formerly flush investors like the ones in Dubai.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.