In October 2006, Nouriel Roubini predicted that a US housing crash could trigger a recession and a “hard landing” around the world. The economist known as “Dr. Doom,” continued to warn of looming global threats for the decade and a half that followed.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance’s editor-in-chief Monday for the All Markets Summit, Roubini outlined looming risks around the globe, which he also details in his new book, MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, And How to Survive You.” Those dangers include what he calls a US-China cold war that could get hot; inflation combined with debt instability; and climate change; among other dangers.
“Right now we face major mega-threats: monetary, social, political, geopolitical, environmental, health, trade and technology,” Roubini said. “If we don’t address them, we’re headed for disaster.”
The economist spoke at length about the dangers of inflation, which rose 8.2% year-on-year in September – well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The inflationary environment has brought back memories of the so-called Great Inflation of the 1970s, which led to inflation peaking at 14% in 1980. The so-called Great Moderation followed with relatively stable prices in the following decades.
“In the book, I find that the era of great moderation, when growth was fine, inflation was low at 2%, is over,” Roubini told Yahoo Finance on Monday. “Now we are entering an era that I refer to as Great Stagflation [a stagnant economy combined with inflation] and debt instability and crisis.”
Due to his often bleak outlook, Roubini is also known as “Dr. Doom.” But Roubini says his book is a call to action against serious threats to the world.
“I usually say that I’m Dr. am a realist, not Dr. Doom,” remarked Roubini. “I think it’s very important to warn about the risk because so far we’ve kicked the can on the street.”
Dylan Croll is a reporter and researcher at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @CrollonPatrol.
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