Background
The child of Iranian Jews, he grew up in Italy.
The child of Iranian Jews, he grew up in Italy.
To make a short story cut, Nouriel Roubini was born in Turkey (Istambul), to Iranian Jewish parents. When he was an infant, his family lived briefly in Iran and Israel. From 1962 to 1983 he resided in Italy, especially in Milan, where he attended the local Jewish school and then the Bocconi University, earning a B.A. in economics. He received his Ph.D. in international economics from Harvard University in 1988, where his adviser was Jeffrey Sachs. He is an American citizen and speaks English, Persian, Italian, Hebrew, and conversational French.
He is the chairman of Roubini Global Economics, an economic consultancy firm.
After receiving a BA in political economics at Bocconi University, Milan and a doctorate in international economics at Harvard University, he became an academic at Yale and a practicing economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and Bank of Israel. Much of his early research focused on emerging markets.
Roubini's critical and consistently bearish economic views have earned him the nicknames "Dr. Doom" and "permabear" in the media. In 2008, Fortune magazine wrote, "In 2005 Roubini said home prices were riding a speculative wave that would soon sink the economy. Back then the professor was called a Cassandra. Now he's a sage". The New York Times notes that he foresaw "homeowners defaulting on mortgages, trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unraveling worldwide and the global financial system shuddering to a halt". In September 2006, he warned a skeptical IMF that "the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence, and, ultimately, a deep recession". Nobel laureate Paul Krugman adds that his once "seemingly outlandish" predictions have been matched "or even exceeded by reality.
As Roubini's descriptions of the current economic crisis have proven to be accurate, he is today a major figure in the U.S. and international debate about the economy, and spends much of his time shuttling between meetings with central bank governors and finance ministers in Europe and Asia.
Nouriel Roubini & Brad Setser, 2005. "Will the Bretton Woods 2 regime unravel soon? the risk of a hard landing in 2005-2006," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Feb
Fabrizio Perri & Michele Cavallo & Kate Kisselev & Nouriel Roubini, 2004. "Exchange rate overshooting and the costs of floating," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Jun.
Roubini, Nouriel, 2001. "Is recovery of Asian markets sustainable?," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, volume 13(2), pages 181-185, April.
Kim, Soyoung & Roubini, Nouriel, 2000. "Exchange rate anomalies in the industrial countries: A solution with a structural VAR approach," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, volume 45(3), pages 561-586, June.
Grilli, Vittorio & Roubini, Nouriel, 1996. "Liquidity models in open economies: Theory and empirical evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, volume 40(3-5), pages 847-859, April.
Bailouts or Bail-ins? Responding to Financial Crises in Emerging Economies (with Brad Setser); forthcoming in August 2004 by the Institute for International Economics, Washington, District of Columbia
Political Cycles and the Macroeconomy (with Alberto Alesina and the help of Gerald Cohen) Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1997
Jeffrey A. Frankel & Nouriel Roubini & Mervyn King & Robert Rubin & George Soros, 2003. "Industrial Country Policies," NBER Chapters, in: Economic and Financial Crises in Emerging Market Economies, pages 155-296 National Bureau of Economic Research, Incor
Giancarlo Corsetti & Paolo Pesenti & Nouriel Roubini, 2002. "The Role of Large Players in Currency Crises," NBER Chapters, in: Preventing Currency Crises in Emerging Markets, pages 197-268 National Bureau of Economic Research, Incorporated
Giancarlo Corsetti & Paolo Pesenti & Nouriel Roubini, 2001. "Fundamental Determinants of the Asian Crisis: The Role of Financial Fragility and External Imbalances," NBER Chapters, NBER-EASE Volume 10, pages 11-46.
Nouriel Roubini & Michele Cavallo & Kate Kisselev, 2004. "Exchange rate overshooting and the costs of floating," 2004 Meeting Papers 766, Society for Economic Dynamics.
Soyoung Kim & Nouriel Roubini, 2004. "Twin Deficit or Twin Divergence? Fiscal Policy, Current Account, and Real Exchange Rate in the United States," Econometric Society 2004 North American Winter Meetings 271, Econometric Society.
Giancarlo Corsetti & Paolo Pesenti & Nouriel Roubini & Cedric Tille, 1999. "Competitive Devaluations: A Welfare-Based Approach," NBER Working Papers 6889, National Bureau of Economic Research, Incorporated