As this is being written, there’s war of words between former Bank of England advisor Mario Blejer and German Chancellor Angela Merkel over whether Greece should default (he says the birthplace of democracy should “default big,” while she says no way, the risk of a “contagion” across the euro zone is too great). Meanwhile, back in the States, Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve, says there’s little the Fed can do to help the domestic economy, while average US income fell, the poverty rate rose and Congressional Republicans aren’t getting on board with President Obama’s $447-billion jobs plan.

And commercial real estate? It’s doing all right for itself, thanks. Recent reports from Cushman & Wakefield, CB Richard Ellis, Colliers International and Jones Lang LaSalle have all pointed to a decline in CBD office vacancy nationwide during the second quarter. Of course, the gain for urban markets may mean a loss for their suburban counterparts, but leasing patterns are showing office occupiers strategizing for the long term. That’s a big improvement in attitude compared to three years ago, when tenants in the post-Lehman environment made decisions that suggested they honestly didn’t know whether they’d be here in three years, let alone 10.   

Bear in mind that the difference between September 2008 and September 2011 is comparable to Sir Isaiah Berlin’s famous essay comparing the fox and the hedgehog: the fox knows many things, while the hedgehog knows one big thing. In ’08 it was the hedgehog staring down that one big thing: the capital markets crisis that loomed over all; today’s it a fox contemplating a veritable sea of troubles. Yet space users are making plans for the future, and that’s quite a change.

An August report from CBRE, “US Deficits, Debt and Commercial Real Estate,” analyzes the many things the fox knows these days. “The US faces multiple challenges including tepid economic growth, gridlock in Washington and an unsustainable debt trajectory writes Asieh Mansour, CBRE’s head of Americas research. “The inability to enact a comprehensive solution to the economic and debt concerns led Standard & Poor’s to lower the long-term rating of the US debt from AAA to AA+.” She adds, however, “While we anticipate continued stock market volatility, commercial real estate will not fare as poorly because it remains a preferred asset class, within a well-diversified multi-asset institutional portfolio.”

In support of this prediction, a Citigroup Global Markets report last week said that investors have added $3.7 billion to US REIT funds so far this year. Assets in the funds have set a new record at $96 billion, surpassing the 2007 peak of $87 billion. Plainly, real estate has regained its stature as a safe harbor.