| By the time we sat down to write this, oil had surged nearly 10%, almost to the dreaded $100/barrel (it moderated by day's end below $95). But this got us thinking: What could surging oil prices fueled by Mideast unrest do to the fragile economic recovery? We asked Grubb & Ellis' Char Fortune: "You hope this is a blip on the radar," she says, "because we're all hoping that this year is off to a good start.? (Above, we snapped Char at last week's NAIOP Night.) Cushman & Wakefield's Mike Elting is more optimistic: ?I think the oil and the Middle East crisis is a concern. But I think the recovery is real, and I think oil can slow it a little bit, but in general, business is doing well and has lots of cash on hand.? That seems to be the consensus: A week or two blip of higher oil prices due to the unrest probably won't scuttle the economy. But if it lasts a lot longer, then all bets are off. |
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