President Shimon Peres held a working meeting on Friday with Dr. Nouriel Roubini at a political-economic conference in Italy. National leaders, ministers, and leading businesspeople attended.
Peres sought information about current economic trends in view of the global crisis and asked Roubini, sometimes called "Dr. Doom" after being among the first economists to predict the recession, what he thought about the Israeli economy. Roubini said that the Israeli economy had demonstrated stability compared with other Western countries, and that Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer had properly managed the private market and financial system.
Roubini said, "I monitor Israel's economic figures, which clearly show that there is no doubt that Israel is one of the first countries to recover from the global economic crisis. Israel is leading the way out of the crisis." He added that he greatly valued Fischer's actions.
Roubini agreed with Peres that Israel was on stable economic ground because it invested in high-tech. "Regrettably, heavy investment in real estate and credit in the US, UK, and other European countries, caused the economic crisis," Roubini said.
Peres spoke at length about future Israeli economic trends, based on the five industries of tomorrow: renewable energy, water, technology teaching methods, homeland security, and stem cells.
Prof. Roubini is a professor of economics at New York University's Stern School of Business and chairman of RGE Monitor (Roubini Global Economics). He was one of the few economists to predict the global credit crisis, saying as far back as 2004 that it was coming.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 6, 2009
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