Nouriel Roubini

Nouriel Roubini (Arabic: نوريل روبيني; born March 29, 1958) is a Turkish-born Iranian-American economic consultant, economist, speaker and writer. He is a professor emeritus since 2021 at the Stern School of Business of New York University.

Nouriel Roubini
Born	(1958-03-29) March 29, 1958 (age 67)[1] Istanbul, Turkey
Nationality	Iranian-American
Academic background
Alma mater	Bocconi University (B.A.) Harvard University (Ph.D.)
Influences	Jeffrey Sachs Larry Summers
Academic work
Discipline	Economics
Institutions	New York University
Website	https://nourielroubini.com/ Information at IDEAS / RePEc

Roubini earned a BA in political economics at Bocconi University in Italy and a doctorate in international economics at Harvard University. He was an academic at Yale and a researcher/advisor researching emerging markets. In the 1990s, during the Bill Clinton administration, for one year he was a senior economist in the Council of Economic Advisers. Roubini is a frequent critic of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Early life

Roubini was born in Istanbul, Turkey, to Iranian Jewish parents.^[2][3][4] When he was a year old, his family lived briefly in Tehran, Iran.^[4] When he was three years old, the family moved to Tel Aviv, Israel.^[4] From 1963 when he was five years old to 1983 he lived in Italy, primarily in Milan. He later attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel where he completed a one-year program of undergraduate studies, in 1976–77.^[5] He subsequently attended Bocconi University in Italy, earning a B.A. ('82) summa cum laude in economics; in 2009 he was named Bocconian of the Year.^[6] He received a PhD in international economics in 1988 from Harvard University, where his adviser was Jeffrey Sachs.^[2]

Career

For much of the 1990s, Roubini taught at Yale and then in New York, while also working for stints at the International Monetary Fund (briefly, as a summer intern and visiting scholar),^[7][8] and World Bank (briefly, as a consultant).^[8][7] In 1998–99, he worked for one year in the Clinton administration as a senior economist in the Council of Economic Advisers.^[4] He worked from July to October 1999 at the Treasury Department as a senior adviser to Timothy Geithner (who was then the undersecretary for international affairs), and from October 1999 to June 2000 as director of its Office of Policy Development and Review.^[9][4] Roubini returned to the IMF for July through August 2001 as a visiting scholar.^[10] He cowrote a book on saving bankrupt economies entitled, Bailouts or Bail-ins?^[11], wrote a book, MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, And How to Survive Them and started a several economic firms. He said: "One person who has had a great impact on me intellectually was Jeffrey Sachs... Another … is Larry Summers, the former President of Harvard."^[12] Currently, he is a professor emeritus at the Stern School of Business at New York University.^[13]

Predictions

In 2006, he warned that a housing bust would trigger a global banking crisis and deep recession within a few years. U.S. sub‑prime collapse spread through the financial system; the 2008 financial crisis ensued.^[14]

In 2020, he argued COVID‑19 would produce a slump "deeper than 2008" unless policy action was swift. The World Bank soon confirmed the worst global contraction since WWII (‑5.2 % GDP in 2020).^[15][16]

In 2021, he warned that post‑pandemic supply shocks plus loose policy could bring a stagflationary decade. Inflation in advanced economies shot to multi‑decade highs (U.S. CPI 6.8 % y/y by Dec 2021) and growth slowed, reviving stagflation talk.^[17][18]

In 2022, he predicted ten large‑scale, mutually‑reinforcing dangers that he argues could collide over the next decade if policymakers were to stay on their current track stressing the inter‑connection, highlighting that addressing each in isolation will not work.^[19][20]

The “Mother‑of‑All” Debt Crisis – public‑ and private‑sector leverage above 350% of global GDP. Sovereigns, households, firms all over‑levered. As of May 2025, Global public debt is rising in 80 % of economies and, on current policies, could top 100 % of world GDP by 2030.^[21]

Ultra‑Easy Money & Boom‑Bust Cycles: that keep inflating asset bubbles. As of April 2025, the zero‑rate era is over, but its legacy bites: debt‑service costs are soaring while growth stays sub‑par; even advanced‑economy central banks caution that “elevated rates amid record debt weigh on activity”.^[22]

Demographic Time‑Bombs: as ageing populations shrink workforces and strain pensions.  As of 2024, the United Nations data confirm the working‑age share is already shrinking in a quarter of countries; global life expectancy keeps climbing, straining pension systems.^[23]

A Long Stretch of Stagflation: weak growth and stubborn inflation after repeated supply shocks. As of March 2025, growth has slowed to ~2.8 % while core services inflation proves sticky, prompting the OECD to flag a “stagflation‐style” risk.^[24]

Currency and Monetary‑System Turmoil: as crypto, CBDCs and the waning dollar challenge today’s order. As of July 2025, 72 countries are building or running CBDCs, BRICS talk up local‑currency trade, and Washington just banned a digital‑dollar pilot—potentially ceding ground abroad.^[25]

Deglobalisation and Weaponized Trade: that splinters supply chains. As of January, 2025 the U.S., Japan and the Netherlands have steadily expanded export controls on advanced chip equipment; China vows retaliation and doubles down on self‑reliance.^[26]

AI‑ and Automation‑Driven Job Disruption: on an unprecedented scale. As of April 2025, Goldman Sachs now estimates up to 50 % of jobs could be fully automated by 2045 as generative‑AI spreads; redundancy waves in support, finance and media began in 2024‑25.^[27]

Great‑Power and Regional (Proxy) Conflicts (U.S.–China, Russia–NATO, Middle East, cyber‑warfare). As of July 2025, U.S.–China tensions remain high: South‑China‑Sea collisions continue and a possible Trump‑Xi summit is framed as crisis‑management, not détente.^[28][29]

Climate Catastrophe and related resource stress. As of July 2025, Europe and China are enduring record‑breaking July heatwaves, with temperatures above 46 °C and thousands of excess deaths; grid stress and wildfire losses soar.^[30][31]

Pandemics & Other Natural Mega‑Shocks that amplify every other threat. As of July 2025, WHO logged fresh human H5N1 bird‑flu cases this month, reminding policymakers that zoonotic spill‑over risks remain elevated.^[32]

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency

He is a frequent critic of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.^[33][34]

Consulting business [citation needed]

2005 - 2016, he co-founded Roubini Global Economics, a small economic consultancy for financial analysis.^[35][36]

2017 - present, he founded Roubini Macro Associates, a global macroeconomic consultancy firm in New York.^[37]

2021 - Present, he co-founded Atlas Capital Team LP^[38]

2017 - Present, he co-founded of Rosa & Roubini Associates.^[39]

Personal life

He speaks English, Persian, Italian, Hebrew, and conversational French.^[3]

Roubini is a US citizen.^[3] He is identified as a Democrat in his profile on Wall Street Economists.^[40]

Writings

• 2022: MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, And How to Survive Them, Little Brown
• 2010: Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance, Penguin Press
• 2006: (editor with Marc Uzan) New International Financial Architecture, Edward Elgar Publishing^[41]
• 2004: (with Brad Setser) Bailouts or Bail-ins? Responding to Financial Crises in Emerging Economies, Peterson Institute^[42]
• 1997: (with Alberto Alesina & Gerald D. Cohen) Political Cycles and the Macroeconomy, MIT Press^[43]