The mood was relatively optimistic at Institutional Real Estate, Inc.’s Visions, Insights & Perspectives Europe conference, held Feb. 25–27 in the seaside town of Eastbourne, England. It was an opportunity to share our perspectives with an audience from Europe and the rest of the world. Here are some of the thoughts we shared:

When looking at the world as it is today, it is important to realize the dominant players in the global economy have been the central banks, whose interventions, some would argue, have saved us all from a global capital meltdown. But this is not a view that is universally shared. Some see central bankers’ efforts to tinker with the underpinnings of global capital flows to be counterproductive, increasing volatility rather than tempering it. Meanwhile, the efforts of central bankers to stave off financial Armageddon by flooding the world’s capital markets with abundant, cheap capital has led to global asset-value inflation. Some fear it has c