> FWIW, apropos the subject heading, in the profile below,
> Roubini strenously disputes that he's a mega- or perma-bear.
> He says it's all situational: he saw the crisis coming
> (as did you), and now he sees the solution coming (solution
> in the sense of keeping the system from falling into
> depression or collapsing, with which you would also agree,
> no?). See esp. the last line. In disposition (if not --
> definately not -- in intellectual accomplishments) Roubini
> sounds like Keynes: a capitalism cheerleader who
> concentrates on predicting disasters in order to warn the
> system managers. So he can continue enjoying his epicurian
> life.
I suspect one reason they call him Dr. Doom is to bracket him. The more his foresight is a matter of temperament, the less it owes to lucidity or rigor. The more you credit him with the latter, the more you begin to discredit many economists.
He also happens to be a student of balance of payment crises, which doesn't hurt given the US trade deficit. As Daniel Davies was saying, banks (shadow or otherwise) intermediate the current account.
Shane