In the financial world, our lousy “Anglo-Saxon” system of supervision and regulation had in practice meant no regulation at all, he said. His comments prompted the arresting headline: “The Anglo-Saxon model has failed”.
Prof Roubini is not Anglo-Saxon. He was born in Istanbul to Iranian-Jewish parents. As a child he lived in Tehran, Tel Aviv and Milan, and speaks four languages. For once, the word polyglot really is justified.
And “Dr Doom”, as he has been irreverently labelled, is entitled to express his opinions with confidence. He forecast our current difficulties more accurately, and sooner, than most. So perhaps we need to ask not only if narrowness is bad, but also whether Prof Roubini's multicultural background has been crucial in helping him to form better judgments.