The significant broadening of the institutional real estate investment universe is a welcome feature of recent years. Societal change, e-retailing and the pandemic, among other factors, has rightly questioned the merit of a strict focus on the traditional sectors of office, retail and industrial. The new sectors that have emerged into institutions’ investment focus are […]
Originally published December 2020. It was my friend and sometime neighbour John Stewart’s recent “Blog 7” which started me thinking about the discrediting of historical buildings as well as historical figures. He was writing on Guiseppe Terragni’s Casa del Fascio in Como, which is quite rightly regarded as one of the seminal buildings of the […]
I had a good conversation Saturday with a college student named Emily, a rare pleasure for an old man like me. Most of my social life is spent with geriatrics eager to talk about their most recent hip replacement, but Emily talked about her ambition to go to law school and to devote herself to […]
Ever since Elon Musk took Twitter private for US$44bn (£36bn), the debate around the social media platform has been vitriolic. There has been considerable angst about the direction Musk has been taking the company and his potential backpedalling on initial promises about free speech. Musk’s takeover appeared to do much financial damage to the company, […]
Originally published September 2022. In the midst of today’s cost of living crisis, many people who are critical of the idea of economic growth see an opportunity. In their recent book The Future is Degrowth, for example, prominent advocates Matthias Schmelzer, Aaron Vansintjan and Andrea Vetter argue that the post-Covid inflation has predominantly been caused […]
With apologies for stating the bleedin‘ obvious, but most of us work to pay bills and no small part of these are accounted for by our mortgage. Consequently, for those who, on having thankfully made their last payment and received the deeds to a home far more valuable than when they bought it, the need […]
How China’s reopening may light fires across the global economy. At the beginning of 2023, if we have certainty about anything, it’s how uncertain the path is for the global economy – unlike in 2021 or 2022, when the destination (higher inflation and higher rates) seemed clear to us. Perhaps most underappreciated are the two-sided […]
Originally published September 2022. How advanced is technology to suck up carbon dioxide – and could it slow climate change? Humanity must remove up to 660 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere by the end of the century to limit global warming to 1.5°C. That’s according to the most recent report by the […]
The CIO of Odey Asset Management, shares his thoughts on recent events inthe UK economy. There was a time when markets were in the ascendancy, when they ruled, rather than were ruled. One of the sadnesses for those of us who have been around a long time is that we have watched a great ocean […]
Originally published November 2021. In recent years, Chinese companies have been substantially increasing their investments in the European Union. From the vineyards of Bordeaux to robot manufacturers in Germany and construction machinery makers in Italy, these companies have been on a buying spree of unprecedented proportions. In the EU, the rapid growth has fuelled fears about the impact of these investments on jobs, […]
