Wrestling on the edge of a cliff? No, we're not talking about the sports fate in future Olympics. That's how The Economist US editor Robert Guest described the recent impasse in Congress at the Trigild Lender Conference in San Diego. Messing with the debt ceiling is a dangerous risk because the "global financial architecture" is built on the notion that America doesn't default. On the positive side, he says the US is well positioned to take advantage of growth in emerging markets like China, India, and Brazil, noting immigrants now stay in intimate contact with their native countries, creating strong cross-border networks.
Economist Sam Chandan says 2013 commercial property sales were 277% higher than they were at the bottom, but the shift of capital from primary to secondary markets continues to lag. (If it's anything like moving from primary to secondary school, we recommend the market get a nickname and smaller backpack.) Also, the commercial real estate lending climate has improved dramatically, but an exaggerated degree of volatility presents a huge challenge in moving from recovery to expansion. Attendance at the three-day conference, which focuses on non-performing commercial loans and investment trends, was up 15% this year, according to founder Judy Hoffman, Trigild's COO.
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