Looking back over the past decade, it’s hard to ignore the tailwind that near-zero interest rates gave consumers in the US and in Europe in purchasing power terms.

This was in my view the single biggest impetus in the search for alternative asset classes, especially luxury goods or so-called "assets of passion" — there wasn’t much incentive for investors to hold their cash in the bank or in developed market government bonds. And what better place to put excess money than in assets that can actually be enjoyed?..

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