Davos Doom Loses to Merkel-Draghi as Euro Defies Roubini
Comment of the Day

January 19 2013

Commentary by David Fuller

Davos Doom Loses to Merkel-Draghi as Euro Defies Roubini

There is a bit of schaudenfreuda in this summary by Simon Kennedy for Bloomberg but a topical read. Here is the opening
Dr. Doom got it wrong.

The parade of economists and investors led by Nouriel Roubini predicting Greece's ejection by now from the euro zone failed to appreciate the resolve of European policy makers to protect their union and the amount of pain Greeks are willing to stomach.

"People underestimated these factors," Roubini, chairman of New York-based Roubini Global Economics LLC, said in a telephone call 12 months after predicting Greece's exit in remarks to the 2012 World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. A Greek departure "is certainly a less likely event this year, although not a zero probability."

Joining him in questioning whether the 17-nation euro region was built to last and declaring Greece's departure imminent, inevitable or in its interest were hedge-fund manager John Paulson, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President Gary Cohn, Nobel laureates Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, Pacific Investment Management Co. Chief Executive Officer Mohamed El- Erian, Kenneth Rogoff and Martin Feldstein of Harvard University and Citigroup Inc. chief economist Willem Buiter.

David Fuller's view 2013 is likely to be interesting, and that is probably preferable to some of the other possibilities.

Back to top