In one of the most stark warnings yet of a pending recession, famed economist Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed Dr. Doom,  says this next recession could start by the end of 2022, stretching into 2023. In a recent media interview, Roubini, the man who correctly predicted the 2008 financial crisis, said in a run of the mill recession, the S&P 500 could slump by 30 percent. In a real hard landing, which he expects, that drop could be as much as 40 percent. Roubini’s searing forecast is picked up in this CONVERSATION by DICK BOVE, chief financial strategist at ODEON CAPITAL GROUP as he debates the escalating debt in the US economy and worldwide with MAT VAN ALSTYNE, ODEON co-founder and managing partner. BOVE believes the US is now at a turning point and will firmly grapple decades-long growth in ballooning debt as the US faces a recession. “We can’t go back to a system of printing money when we are in trouble,” he says. VAN ALSTYNE disputes his outlook. He sees a short term strategy of tamping down America’s red hot inflation. But in the long term, he expects the government to unfortunately resort to further money printing to fund the mounting cost of entitlement and other programs. Roubini says the next recession could be “severe, long and ugly.”

The CONVERSATION looks at signs of trouble in China’s troubled Belt and Road Initiative Program. JOHN AIDAN BYRNE notes how some of the loans by China to foreign borrowers have now gone sour, raising more problems for China which is also managing internal challenges such as a housing crisis. The CONVERSATION looks at current events in other economies in the news, including the UK and Italy and examines the impact of the soaring US dollar. BOVE repeats his call for some form of “Plaza Accord” to manage and contain the latest wave of currency volatility triggered in large by the rising dollar. VAN ALSTYNE says that while such an idea has merit, it is hard to imagine major nations of the world with disparate agendas, gathering to hammer out a practical deal.  Bank CEOs are grilled on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, the financial rape of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continues, according to BOVE.

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