Nouriel Roubini

Nouriel Roubini is an economist of world repute who has worked at the IMF, the Federal Reserve, the World Bank and the Bank of Israel. So you would think that he knows what he's talking about especially if, like me, you are a complete ignoramus in economic affairs. For this reason I tend to read articles on economics or finance in a "non-critical" manner, assuming that the facts are correct even though one might not agree with the conclusions drawn from them. In short, a person has to write something pretty grotesque for me to sit up and take notice.

This is what Mr Roubini wrote in Slate Magazine last week (my italics, bold type and underlining):

"For the last decade, the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain) were the eurozone's consumers of first and last resort, spending more than their income and running ever-larger current-account deficits. Meanwhile, the eurozone core (Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and France) comprised the producers of first and last resort, spending below their incomes and running ever-larger current-account surpluses."


I can't speak for Germany, the Netherlands or Austria, but in the case of France this is BLATANTLY UNTRUE. France's current acount DEFICIT in 2010 was actually -53.290 billion dollars. For goodness sake!


I have no particular axe to grind or point of view to defend but if economists can't at least get their facts straight we might as well all pack up and go home.