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Megathreats

Our Ten Biggest Threats, and How to Survive Them

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Megathreats

By: Nouriel Roubini
Narrated by: Kamran Khan
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About this listen

 The bestselling author of Crisis Economics argues that we are heading toward the worst economic catastrophe of our lifetimes, unless we can defend against ten terrifying threats.

Renowned economist Nouriel Roubini was nicknamed "Dr. Doom," until his prediction of the 2008 housing crisis and Great Recession came true - when it was too late. Now he is back with a much scarier prediction, one that we ignore at our peril. There are no fewer than ten overlapping, interconnected threats that are so serious, he calls them Megathreats. From the worst debt crisis the world has ever seen, to governments pumping out too much money, to borders that are blocked to workers and to many shipments of goods, to the rise of a new superpower competition between China and the U.S., to climate change that strikes directly at our most populated cities, we are facing not one, not two, but ten causes of disaster. There is a slight chance we can avoid them, if we come to our senses - but we must act now.

In the 1970s, the U.S. faced stagflation: high rates of inflation combined with stagnant employment and growth. Today, we are heading toward a Great Stagflation that will make the 1970s look like a walk in the park.

'Roubini has surpassed even his high standards: the ten Megathreats he details are as scary as they are plausible. Forewarned is forearmed. Read and pay attention' Martin Wolf

(P) 2022 Hachette Audio©2022 Nouriel Roubini Economics Politics & Government Theory Banking Government Taxation China Socialism Great Recession Capitalism

Critic Reviews

Roubini has surpassed even his high standards: the ten Megathreats he details are as scary as they are plausible. Forewarned is forearmed. Read and pay attention (Martin Wolf)
Roubini cuts to the real problems like a hot knife through butter with a clarity of mind that is rare among economists. I have never seen a more lucid and nuanced account of our financial condition. Not only will the reader be better off after reading this book, but the world will be a better place (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of THE BLACK SWAN)
A tour de force . . . This clever and timely analysis powerfully illustrates how the combination of flawed human judgment, faulty policies, and a collective disregard of natural constraints now confronts us with perils whose reach goes well beyond just our generation. Ignore this book at your own peril (Mohamed El-Erian)
The choice is clear: either we overcome deep-rooted political and geopolitical barriers to mount an adequate collective response (my preference!), or we sleepwalk into a new era of chaos and upheaval. A timely and compelling read, MegaThreats is a wake-up call for humanity (Ian Bremmer, President of Eurasia Group and author of THE POWER OF CRISIS)
Calm, clear-headed and possibly prescient . . . a bracing assessment of long-term risks to the global economy. Dark, perhaps, but brilliant, for sure (Kenneth Rogoff, co-author of THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT)
If recent history has taught us one thing, it is that Black Swan events happen - and more frequently than we expect. Nouriel Roubini describes the most threatening swans and how we can avoid being pecked to death . . . This is not an optimistic forecast, but it is a sobering and necessary one (Barry Eichengreen, George C. Pardee & Helen N. Pardee Chair and Distinguished Professor of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley)
The economist who predicted the 2008 recession is looking around the corner to anticipate the next major crises. Dr. Doom isn't here to scare you-his goal is to prepare you. The better you are at anticipating problems, the better positioned you become to prevent them and solve them (Adam Grant, bestselling author of THINK AGAIN)
[Roubini] has seen a pattern in the world and he has a warning for the rest of us (New Statesman)
How bad might the future be? One can rely on Nouriel Roubini to give the most plausible answer to that question. In this case, he surpasses his own high standards of doomsaying. People who like horror films will love this book (Financial Times)
All stars
Most relevant
Mostly a long list of things that pose a potential threat to the global economy. Little analysis and lots of risk summaries

Collection of possible risks

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Halfway through I was thinking, "where are the other threats, every threat so far is basically money..." - maybe that's the point though. The second half was more varied and I ended up enjoying the whole thing, especially the takes on cryptocurrency.

Worth perservering

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This is a good overview of the mega trends happening globally in the current era, and what may pose devastating economic threats or even existential threats to humankind.

Good summary of megathreats

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Suffers from a lack of balance which may cause some readers to disregard the underlying issues and risks - which are nonetheless soundly arrived at. Quotes too many online news articles - which can be unreliable and always display the journalist’s preferences. Also Tasmania is not a country.

Interesting but a little unbalanced and sketchy on a few facts

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The reader, or narrator, used slack pronunciation (‘innernational stradegy’) and, distractingly, often stressed the wrong words in a sentence.

Poor performance by reader

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