In an April 2007 speech to the Credit Suisse Real Estate Conference in New York, Mike pointed out that China is projected to be the world's largest economy by 2050. "The remarkable thing is not that China will grow so much," he said. "It is that we've been there before. China was the world's largest economy in 1820. So if Rip Van Winkle went to sleep in 1820 and woke up 230 years later, he would think nothing had changed!"