Three wise men: what would they have to say about the financial economic crisis?
| Published date | 04 September 2017 |
| Pages | 538-540 |
| Date | 04 September 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPIF-07-2017-0051 |
| Author | Elaine M. Worzala |
| Subject Matter | Property management & built environment,Real estate & property,Property valuation & finance |
Guest editorial
Three wise men: what would they have to say about the financial economic
crisis?
In this second issue of the Journal of Prope rty Investment & Fi nance,wecontinueto
examine the great recession and to reap lessons for the real estate profession from the
financial economic crisis. As an Academic Researcher that has been in the field for the last
threedecades,Ihavebeenveryfortunatetohavehadmanymentorsoveratimewhenthe
world of real estate research, particularly on the institutional investment side, has literally
come of age.
In 1987, I returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study under one of the
“grandfathers”of institutional real estate research and graduate real estate education,
Dr James A. Graaskamp, CRE. In 1993, I took a leave of absence and moved to Storrs, CT
where I met and worked with Dr William N. Kinnard, MAI. And, sometime in there I met an
incredible individual who always had the latest technology, Dr Marc Louargand, CRE.
When I joined Clemson University, I brought him out to be my Counselor in Residence and
with his help and a few others, I was nominated for and became a Counselor of Real Estate.
We started the Counselors in the Classroom program, a program designed to bring top real
estate professionals into the university classrooms which can often be difficult on campuses
that are in small university towns. This is a practice that is becoming more and more
common and, in my view of real estate education, an extremely important way for students
our to learn not only from academics but also from our “real-world”professionals.
All three of these individuals worked tirelessly to improve the fields of real estate
research and real estate education. They influenced me profoundly and I know they have
touched many thousands of real estate professionals around the world through their
research and professional practice. I also know that they would have some strong insights
today to help guide our industry. They would feel like many of us here in the USA,
ashamed and appalled at how our current leadership is apparently thumbing their nose at
the rest of the world. When the Trump Administration refused to sign the Paris Accord, it
was the last straw for me. I was hoping that he was just grandstanding and on that
terrible day in the Rose Garden he would say, “JK, of course we want to do our part to stop
global warming and to try to reverse the climate chaos that now plagues so many of us.”I
was deeply embarrassed and wanted to hide in a cave from my international friends
as we all know that our industry has and can help in so many ways to reverse
the current course which most scientists agree is a very dangerous one. The USA has
always been behind in this area but as one of the papers in this issue highlights
(Christensen), we have been trying to make up for the past sins and many US-based real
estate companies, as well as, researchers areactivelyengagedintryingtomakea
difference in the area of sustainability.
If these three mentors of mine had been alive in 2008 (actually Marc was alive at that
point but died shortly after) and they were also alive today, they would have most certainly
been asked to contribute to this issue. And, I think they would have a lot to say about the
current climate in the USA. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize them and
highlight how they might have reacted and/or responded.
James Graaskamp, the Chief, would have certainly tried to call the crash before it had
happened. One of my favorite quotes of his was “When you buy a piece of realestate, all you
are buying is a set of assumptions.”He would have pointed out early that our analysts were
not using marketfundamentals to underwritethe deals. That they had rose-colored glasses on
Journal of Property Investment &
Finance
Vol. 35 No. 6, 2017
pp. 538-540
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1463-578X
DOI 10.1108/JPIF-07-2017-0051
538
JPIF
35,6
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