In a section titled "Gimme Shelter," Basu talked about the dramatic increase in foreign investment in the commercial/multifamily real estate markets over the past few years. The next section of the presentation, "19th Nervous Breakdown," included information about global debt reaching an all time high with global debt representing 318% of global GDP by 2018Q1.
Basu concluded with his 2019 forecast. He believes the U.S. economy is setting up for its best year since 2005, with abundant job opportunities, elevated corporate profits, and surging consumer and business confidence. Yet he wonders, "what could go wrong?" Basu says there are potential bubbles forming in Equity markets, the U.S. bond market, Commercial Real Estate and even Bitcoin. Basu predicts that the rest of "2018 will be fine - better than fine - 2019 might be too, but beyond that, potential deleveraging cycle prompted by a repricing of assets - Bad!!!!"
