Argued Greece would remain in the Eurozone-proven right when the union held together.

During the Greek financial crisis there was an open debate on whether Greece would be forced to leave the Eurozone, or Grexit. At the peak of the Greek crisis the consensus even among sell side research analysis on Wall Street and among European analysts was that Grexit was the baseline scenario, i.e. that Greece would choose or be forced to leave the Eurozone.

Roubini instead took the correct view that Grexit would not occur. His unconventional view was based on several pieces of analysis:

First, he argued that in the game of chicken between Greece and the Troika (IMF, ECB and the EU Commission) Greece would have to blink as it had less leverage.

Second, the Troika offered to Greece both carrots – a large financing program – and sticks (the risk of a free fall if that official financing were cut-off) that led Greece to accept austerity, adjustment and reforms even under a leftist government rather than a disorderly Grexit.

Third, Grexit would have led to severe contagion within the eurozone and the risks that other fragile Eurozone members would leave leading to the near collapse of this monetary union.

Fourth, wiser EU leaders – such as German Chancellor Merkel (as opposed to her pro-Grexit Finance Minister Schauble) realized that Grexit would lead to severe geopolitical implication as those were the years of massive migration from Syria and other Middle East countries that were arriving on the Greek shores; thus, Grexit would have created further security strains for Europe.

And, indeed, as Roubini correctly predicted, Grexit did not occur and the Eurozone was saved.