The communists were right after all: capitalism is killing itself off, at least for now, says New York University economist Nouriel Roubini.
“Karl Marx was right, at some point capitalism can destroy itself,” Roubini, known for his gloomy forecasts and also fore accurately predicting the recent recession, tells Dow Jones Newswires.
“Markets are not working.”
The U.S. and Europe are teetering on the edge of recession but are mistakenly pushing through austerity measures to cut debts, which will further hamper growth.
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Nouriel Roubini
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Now is not the time for austerity, Roubini says, but rather, for more stimulus measures.
Because of mistaken policies, the global economy stands a 50 percent chance of falling into a recession.
The world will know in three months.
"We are at stall speed right now, and we do not know if we are going to go up, or down," Roubini says.
Stock prices have taken a beating lately thanks to debt concerns and to economic uncertainty in general.
Some say wild swings in the stock market will push the economy even closer to a recession, as when investors sell over fear itself, stock prices remain weak and make it harder for companies to raise money and finance new ventures and get the economy going again, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
Gross domestic product figures are slipping below 2 percent, which could signal dark clouds on the horizon.
"Every time real GDP growth has decelerated to less than 2 percent on a year-to-year basis the economy has either already been in recession or fallen into one within a year," according to economist Mark Vitner of Wells Fargo, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
"The record is not very comforting."
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