Three cheers for boring?

Nobel Laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman closed his talk at the Megatrends conference in Abu Dhabi this morning with the simple prediction that the world's economic life was going to be a lot more boring or a while -- and that's he's grateful for it. The property experts gathered for an afternoon forum, moderated by Crane Country, seemed to agree.

John Bullough, the chief executive of Aldar, predicted that the next 12 months would likely be a time of "great caution" in the property market, but that in the end all the trauma we've endured is good, since it's likely to bring greater strength and transparency.

Blair Hagkill, the managing director of Middle East and North Africa for Jones Lang LaSalle, said that 2009 would be about consolidation, while 2010 would be about stability. He said progress would come from people upgrading to better accommodations, the building of "real homes for real people", and the continuing professionalisation of the property sector.

Philip Ward, the chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi Finance, welcomed the fact that "common sense has returned" to the market, noting that while banks are still skittish about lending to some extent, liquidity levels are improving.

We're not out of the woods yet, the general sentiment was, but the basic fact that the crisis has slowed down the process of decision-making from last year's frenzied pace means that future choices are likely to be better ones. To paraphrase Mr Hagkill, some of the best economic times bring about the worst economic decisions. So it's only logical that the reverse would also be true.