Nouriel Roubini warned the US and China are headed down a path of confrontation after a Group of Seven summit in Japan.
The chairman of Roubini Macro Associates, who has a track record of predicting doom, said the “cold war between the US and China is going to get colder.”
Speaking on Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, he warned the standoff may eventually ripple through markets by slowing economic growth and boosting commodity prices.
G-7 leaders used a summit this month in Hiroshima, Japan to discuss how to tackle China collectively. They agreed to strive for “constructive and stable” relations even as they pushed ahead with steps to reduce dependence on Beijing for critical supply chains.
“There’s not going to be any thaw between the US and China,” Roubini said. “The Chinese reaction to this G-7 summit is that Europe, US and Japan and others are ganging up against China.”
Roubini singled out the threat of a “geopolitical depression” among the biggest risks facing markets, pointing to the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the possibility of escalation between Iran and Israel.
When asked about negotiations over raising the US debt ceiling, Roubini said failure to reach a deal may have a devastating effect.
“They may get to the last hour before there’s an agreement, or it’s possible they don’t reach an agreement,” he said. “If that doesn’t happen, then the market is going to crash.”
The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, powered by Bloomberg.
