Davos WEF 2018: World Economy Is Fine, Worry About Geopolitics, Says Nobel Laureate Pissarides
Christopher Pissarides is optimistic on the world economy, but says there is one key risk to consider.
Geopolitical uncertainty is the only risk right that could put an otherwise solid global economy in jeopardy, according to Nobel Laureate Christoper Pissarides.
“The risks I see are geopolitical,” he told BloombergQuint’s Menaka Doshi on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “You never know North Korea, what Kim and Trump might do to each other. I hope nothing,” he added.
Apart from that, Pissarides remains optimistic on the world economy. “In terms of solid economic performance, fundamentals are good. Investment’s picking up, new technology is being talked about everywhere,” he said.
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Europe is out of the woods with Germany moving towards a stable government and the Brexit “mess” not worsening any further, said Pissarides who was awarded the Nobel prize in Economics in 2011. And while China is doing well, asset prices in the U.S., have gone “up and up”, leaving the risk of some correction, he added.
All together, we are okay.Christoper Pissarides, Nobel Laureate in Economics
When asked if we’d return to the levels of growth seen before the global financial crisis of 2008, Pissarides said, “I hope we don't”. Much of the pre-crisis growth was built on on debt, the Nobel laureate explained. "Now there's much better regulation” which may rein in asset prices from returning to pre-2008 levels, he added.
Here’s the full conversation.