Nouriel Roubini On Coronavirus: Stocks Will Plunge 30-40% This Year

Nouriel Roubini, the famed economist, named ‘Dr. Doom’ following its 2006 predictions over the economic global crisis from 2008, offered a series of interviews on Coronavirus effect on economies all over the world.

One of them was for Yahoo! Finance, where Roubini offered its first gloomy prediction: a global recession doesn’t look too far fetched. Also, he added:

I think the market reaction right now is quite severe, and it’s going to be more severe than SARS for many reasons

Nouriel Roubini for On The Move, Yaho! Finance

For those who try and compare the SARS effects and Coronavirus effects on global economy, Roubini offered a clear picture: during SARS, the precedent deadly virus, China’s economy accounted for only 4% of the global economy. At present, China accounts for 20% of the GDP. Also, the number of SARS infected people all over the world reached only 8,000 cases, with around 700 deaths. Now, the Coronavirus surpassed the 100,000 infected and 3,000 deaths all over the world.

Also, in an interview for Der Spiegel, Dr Doom predicted the stocks will fall 30-40% in 2020 because of the Coronavirus. He advised the investors to hold cash and government bonds. ‘Better safe than sorry’, as he said.