Roubini Calls Debt Ceiling a ‘Farce’; Tweets for Tax Hikes

One week before the U.S. must lift its debt ceiling or risk default, Nouriel Roubini, the economist best known for predicting the global financial crisis, foresees no catastrophe as next Tuesday’s deadline approaches. Mark Mobius, best known for his emerging markets expertise, sees a blow to the dollar if the U.S. debt limit isn’t raised.

Roubini, the New York University economist, speaking in Shanghai, China, was quoted as saying, “My baseline scenario is still an agreement will be reached. I don’t think the U.S. will default.”

What disturbs the economic forecaster’s peace is the high levels of debt that continue to slow down the world’s advanced economies. “(Recovery) has been so weak because this was not a traditional recession, but was a recession caused by a financial crisis brought on by too much debt and leverage first in the private sector and now in the public sector,” MarketWatch quotes Roubini as saying.

While Roubini has doubtless shared his nuanced analysis with attendees at the Shanghai forum and with his consulting firm Roubini Global Economics’ private clients, a few of his fairly frequent public tweets give a condensed but clear idea of his proposed solutions to the longer-term U.S. debt crisis. The celebrity economist believes the U.S. needs to raise more revenue and seems to be at odds with Republicans opposed to tax increases.