With many parts of the world gearing up to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the start of the First World War, Nouriel Roubini has solidified his hold on the title “Dr. Doom” by suggesting parallels between 2014 and 1914.
There may be no Austro-Hungarian empire or Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but Roubini tweeted this from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos today: He then tweeted some of the reasoning behind this train of thought.
Nouriel Roubini
@Nouriel
#wef14 many speakers compare 2014 to 1914 when WWI broke out & no one expected it. A black swan in the form of a war between China & Japan?
Nouriel Roubini
@Nouriel
#wef14 Echoes of 1914: backlash against globalization, gilded age of inequality, rising geopolitical tensions, ignoring tail risks
While Roubini is renowned for his bubble warnings and doom scenarios, his concerns weren’t drawn out of thin air, but rather taken mainly from the lips of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
According to report from both The Financial Times and BBC, Abe said on Wednesday that China and Japan were in a “similar situation” to that of Britain and Germany ahead of World War One.
(Read more: Timeline of latest flare-up in China-Japan tensions)
However, Reuters reported that Abe’s top spokesman has denied the Japanese leader meant war was possible or imminent, which is still unthinkable for many.
Still, Abe said that China’s increase in military spending was a source of instability in the region and he reiterated his calls for a military hotline to avert a conflict. In November, China tried to impose an air defense zone over a small collection of islands in the East China Sea, which the Japanese call the Senkaku Islands while the Chinese refer to them as Diaoyu….”
