NEW YORK CITY-David Tobin, principal and co-founder of Mission Capital Advisors, sat down with GlobeSt.com to talk about a wide range of issues--from the state of the economic recovery here in the United States to what types of development deals he currently sees receiving financing. Tobin’s firm, which has advised on more than $35 billion of loan sale and real estate financing transactions, provides a unique vantage point. For instance, he says that lending, not employment numbers, are the chief gauge of progress toward economic recovery and that, by this metric, things aren’t quite as bad as you might think.

GlobeSt.com: Can you give me your view of the economic recovery? Where do you see things currently and where do you see them going in the future?

Tobin: The recovery from our perspective--and our perspective is really how it relates to the banking sector--is going to be better than the pundits suggest and better than all the very bearish sentiment that’s out there. But it’s still probably not fast enough to have any real effect on growth. By that what I mean to say is banks selling down bad assets is sort of the fastest way to recovery--banks taking the pain. Most knowledgeable folks agree that banks can’t in one fell swoop write down their entire book of business and take that pain internationally--in Asia, Europe and the United States. Things have been attacked quite well by the FDIC, which has balanced bank takeovers and pushing other banks to sell assets with some form of recovery and perhaps a little bit of economic growth. But lending, as we knew it, hasn’t returned for businesses and for consumers, and lending will probably be the thing that leads us out of the doldrums and back into growth mode.