Roubini interview

[powayseller]

This link may only be good for a few days; go down to the 4:40 pm slot, and you’ll see an 8-min. video of my idol, Nouriel Roubini talking about the R word, gas and commodity prices, the housing market…

[rankandfile]

I never saw him before. He looked a bit like a disheveled trader at the end of a rough day. I was impressed with his knowledge and ability to express his views on the economy. He convinced me that this recent economic cycle will play out similar to the one in 2000-2001…that the recession will come faster than we think. I particularly liked the quote about when the US sneezes, the rest of the world gets a cold.

[powayseller]

Whenever I see Roubini, I wonder if he is too serious or simply depressed. I would love to see that guy crack a smile.

[Anonymous]

Oh my! Pass the prozac. I thought he was cheerful.

[LAcrash]

At least he cracked a smile at the “Eeyore” comment. He looks like he needs a vacation. Anyways, he strikes me as very intelligent, and I think he’s making a good call.

[greekfire]

For someone who’s speaking English as a second language, he seemed to have a very good grasp of it. He came across as being highly articulate and I don’t recall him incorporating one “um” or “ah” in his responses (I may be wrong here), unlike the host. Not that those are entirely a bad thing, but they do foreshadow one’s ability to formulate thoughts and express them on the fly.

[PerryChase]

What ethic background is Roubini? Somewhere in the Middle East?
I noticed that he went to university in Jerusalem and Italy. But I don’t beleive that his name is Italian.

He makes a lot of sense to me. I agree with you greekfire. What do you make of George Bush’s speaking abilities?

[greekfire]

I would say that Roubini is of Arabian descent. George Bush could definitely take some pointers from him.

[balasr]

I believe Roubini is from Italy.

[ybc]

George Bush’s speaking capabilities? An article I read in 2000 before the election on Washintonpost said that W likely had a sort of learning disability that incumbered his linguistic development. It used many examples and made a lot of sense to me. Although his own speeches were an abundant source of jokes, I don’t quite use it against him that much — after all, others with learning disabilities who’ve overcome that challenges have achieved a great amount. But with W, the problem is that he really didn’t do much with his problems. Instead, his family connections got him into the best educational institutions, but he came out schooled but not educated, and he developed a distaste for anything intellectual (probably due to his own shortcomings). His family connections also got him out of troubles again and again. These experiences made him as arrogant as he is, there is no consequences to what he did wrong, so now whatever he believes, it is.

I don’t think that his speaking capabilities reflect entirely his intelligence. His early recognition of Karl Rove, for example, is a form of intelligence. But his intelligence (more people and politics oriented) coupled with his ignorance (which his learning disability contributed) and arrogance made him the worst president in my mind — he could get into the office, but everything he does is disaster.

[Anonymous]

Roubini's lineage — born in Turkey, raised in Italy, U.S. citizen:

http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~nroubini/referen.htm

President Bush had a higher SAT score (~1220) than John Kerry, and folks have estimated his IQ in the 95% percentile.  He's intelligent.  But, he's no great orator, though he has had great speeches.

[Anonymous]

I would guess that Roubini is a Turkish or Lebanese Jew. Clearly smart, having graduated with highest honors and picking up an economics Ph.D. at Harvard.

[PerryChase]

I wonder if GWB took his own SAT. There’s a lot more good-ol’-boys club stuff going on than most people would admit or believe.

Someone I know has a son who wanted to attend a certain university. Well he didn’t get in. But after the governor wrote a letter everything was taken care of. Maximum political contributions help solidify the relationship. Use of jets and hunting lodges help also.

[Anonymous]

Aw, c’mon Perry. Back in the 60s, his Dad was a lousy Congressman and his grandfather a Senator. Looks good on paper and sounds impressive to many, but I read about folks with comparable backgrounds who didn’t get into fine schools and have had perfectly mundane lives (like GWB’s brother who was involved in the S&L collapse). Pedigree/lineage is nice, but it ain’t determinitive, otherwise, Roosevelts and Eisenhowers and Washingtons and Jeffersons would be running the U.S., but they aren’t.

[ybc]

So, jg, you think that GWB got into all the schools based on his own merits? I kind of double his SAT too — isn’t a lot of it vocabulary? I won’t question GWB’s ambition and persistence, though. The fact that not all legacies are pursuing high offices / in Ivy leagues doesn’t mean that it isn’t a significant factor. They might just not want to.

“The Wall Street Journal recently put a statistical face on alumni clout in admissions. Children of graduates make up 10 to 15 percent of incoming classes at most Ivy League schools, according to the Journal. Harvard accepts 40 percent and Princeton accepts 35 percent of legacies but only 11 percent of all applicants. The University of Pennsylvania rakes 41 percent of legacy applicants yet only 21 percent overall. At Notre Dame, nearly a quarter of students are children of graduates. ” — this is from a 2004 article from Washingtonia.

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