World economist nicknamed ‘Dr. Doom’ issues dire warning about Trump: ‘Greatest threat’

A professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business says if Donald Trump wins back the White House, the impact on global growth, inflation, and fiscal deficits will be devastating.

In an op-ed in Market Watch, Nouriel Roubini warned that Trump’s proposed economic policies are “now the greatest threat to economies and markets around the world.”

Roubini gained the nickname “Dr. Doom” after he correctly warned about 2008 subprime meltdown.

“We have entered a period of intensifying geopolitical rivalries and conflicts. Russia’s war on Ukraine is now in its third year, the Israel-Hamas conflict could still become a regional war, and the deepening Cold War between the United States and China may yet turn hot over Taiwan sometime this decade,” Roubini wrote, adding that if Trump wins in November, “The world will be even further destabilized.”

Also read: Ron Johnson: ‘We’d be far better off if we never passed another piece of legislation’

While wars in Ukraine and Gaza carry on as the U.S. is locked in a “Cold War”-type situation with China, Roubini contends that these conflicts will have a limited impact on regional and global economics.

“The biggest geopolitical risk to growth and markets is the U.S. election,” Roubini writes, adding that people should acknowledge that Trump and President Joe Biden “share some foreign-policy priorities” — but the difference between the two is on the issues of NATO, Europe and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“As the saying goes, ‘It’s the economy, stupid.’ Trump’s proposed economic-policy agenda is now the greatest threat to economies and markets around the world,” he writes.

Roubini writes that it’s pretty much expected that U.S. protectionist policies would become more severe if Trump is elected president.

“Trump has already said he would impose a 10% tariff on all imports coming to the U.S. (the average tariff rate is currently about 2%), and presumably even higher tariffs on imports from China. This would spark new trade wars, not only with strategic rivals like China, but also with America’s allies in Europe and Asia, such as Japan and South Korea.”

Read the full op-ed over at MarketWatch.