Nouriel Roubini has served as a senior adviser to the White House Council of Economic Advisers and the US Treasury Department and consultant to the World Bank and IMF. As early as 2005, Roubini speculated that house prices would soon sink the economy and in 2006, warned the IMF that the United States was likely to face a catastrophic housing bust resulting in deep recession. Back then he was nicknamed 'Dr Doom' by the New York Times. In hindsight, economists have called him a prophet. Roubini is professor of economics at the Stern School of Business, New York University and co-founder and chairman of RGE Monitor, a web-based economic consultancy firm. He speaks English, Farsi, Italian and Hebrew.