Hey, Economic Pundits, Find a New Nickname
Pictured is NYU economist and Facebook stalker Nouriel Roubini, a.k.a. Dr. Doom. There's a highlight clip going around the internet (it's after the jump) of an investment guru named Peter Schiff predicting our current economic crisis on various TV shows over the past couple of years, and being roundly mocked by the hosts and the other guests for doing so. Now they all look dumb (that's you, Ben Stein) and he looks great. So what's the media's nickname for Schiff? "Dr. Doom." Uh, yea, that one sounds familiar. Just how many freaking economists nicknamed "Dr. Doom" are there these days?
- Peter Schiff: "Peter D. Schiff is the president of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., a brokerage firm based in Darien, Connecticut... His extremely bearish views on the U.S. Dollar, the United States stock market, bond market, and the United States economy have earned him the nickname 'Dr. Doom.'" Here he is being so, so right about things:
- Nouriel Roubini: "The NYU professor's once-mocked warnings—of a real-estate collapse, equity market slaughter, the systemic bust of the banking system—have largely come to pass. It's no wonder Roubini has earned the nickname Dr. Doom."
- Dr. Ravi Batra: "Batra is a professor of economics at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and the author of five international best sellers. His latest book is: 'The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos.'...Dr. Ravi Batra, a.k.a. 'Dr. Doom.'"
- Marc Faber: "Dr Faber publishes a widely read monthly investment newsletter "The Gloom Boom & Doom Report" report which highlights unusual investment opportunities, and is the author of several books."
- Henry Kaufman: "Currently president of Henry Kaufman & Company Inc...He was well-known during the 1970s and early 1980s for the interest rate forecasts he wrote for Salomon, and for their bearish views, generally predicting that bond prices would decrease (interest rate would increase). Thus, he earned the nickname 'Dr. Doom.'"
- Nick Denton: (What the hell?) "Today Nick has issued his 2009 Internet Media Plan, which amounts to one big Forecast of Doom."
God, we really need better nicknames here. Until further notice let's just call them all "The guy who is not currently wrong."