Dr. Nouriel Roubini: Positive for Romania, negative for other countries

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Yesterday I shared with you my dialogue with DR Nouriel Roubini, one of the most famous economists of the world. I asked him about Romania and Greece. It looks like this was the first time (since quite… some time) that a respectable well known “opinion maker” spoke about Romania using positive words.

Who is he? A “trend setter” of our times…
I read about the Greek, European and world economy since I was 12, back in 1987. I have read thousands of articles about all kinds of subjects, having noticed or studied success stories or major failures. In the middle of the previous decade I heard about DR Roubini as well. He captured my attention as he was one of the very few economists who insisted that the American economy would explode and that a major crisis was coming up. He was talking about toxic bonds etc.

In 2007 USA crashed, but we did not really feel it here in Europe. It needed for Lehman Brothers to collapse in order for the whole world to pay attention to the news and enter into crisis as well. Since then, DR Roubini earned the world’s attention, being recognized as the one who predicted the crisis.

Some call him “Doctor Doom”, as he predicted the worst and he was right. Others consider his words as part of a “self fulfilled prophecy”. No matter what is people’s opinion, today he is one of the few people who are real “opinion makers” and “trend setters”.

Why did I decide to ask DR Roubini a question about Romania?
Romania was not present at MIPIM 2011 and there were very few people talking positive about the country. So, when I noticed that DR Roubini’s speech was also focused on the whole world but Romania, I thought that I should do something about it and decided to ask him for an opinion, a statement.

His words for Romania were positive…
DR Roubini’s keynote speech was “the most expected event” of MIPIM 2011 as well. I was there too, interested in hearing his opinion about many different subjects. Once I noticed that Romania was absent (once more), I stood up and asked him a question.

I consider his answer as very good but in the same time I have noticed that some of my readers do not share the same opinion. They don’t really consider that DR Roubini’s words are positive about Romania. But let us focus on his words. He:

  • Mentioned the problems we had.
  • Stated that we were assisted by the other countries.
  • Chose to give a positive message, focusing on the potential of attracting foreign direct investments.

While he was negative for most of the other countries…
In my eyes this is a positive approach. Especially as before I have heard about tens of countries being almost “slaughtered” by him. For most of the countries his message was negative, due to many different reasons. But for Romania it was not and this is enough for me, for now.

Why he did not speak more about Romania?
His answer was quite short regarding this country. Why was that? Let me guess… While so many other countries lobby for their interests, trying to promote themselves in all possible opportunities, Romania does not have a similar strategy. This is why DR Roubini (and many others who don’t has specific interests in the area) have only a general overview of the country.

Would it be better to create a strategy and approach all the opinion makers of the world, promoting the country’s interests? It would be indeed, but this is a job for politicians and I am not one.

What did he say about Greece?
Except Romania, I also asked DR Roubini about Greece. It was few days after the bad news about Moody’s and one day before the positive news that we had in Brussels. His answer was more detailed, as he has studied the country much more, he was also invited to speak in Greece last year too.

 
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