US, China seen as top AI beneficiaries in new growth forecast from ‘Doctor Doom’ economist

Nouriel Roubini predicted the 2008 financial crisis – now he says an explosion of hi-tech will be unlike anything mankind has ever seen, trivialising near-term headwinds

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Listen

Economist Nouriel Roubini said artificial intelligence and other hi-tech advancements could propel America’s annual economic growth into the double digits. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Published: 6:06pm, 13 Apr 2026

The economist famously dubbed “Doctor Doom” for predicting the 2008 financial crisis has seemingly morphed into a bullish “Doctor Boom” with his latest economic outlook.

Nouriel Roubini now predicts that a “Cambrian explosion” of technological advances – including artificial intelligence – could propel the US’ potential economic growth to 4 per cent by 2030, and as high as 10 per cent in less than a quarter-century, overshadowing Middle East oil shocks and other near-term headwinds.

Framing AI as a long-term driver rather than a bubble, the economist said that the US and China were the world’s two leading innovators, and that both stood to benefit.

“That fundamental story – regardless of geopolitics, regardless of climate change, regardless of populism – is the driver for the next 10 to 20 years, and is a positive for the world at large,” Roubini said at the Greenwich Economic Forum in Hong Kong on Monday.

Roubini pointed to around 15 technologies – including AI, semiconductors, humanoid robots and space exploration – that he said collectively represent a “Cambrian explosion of new technologies of the future that we’ve not seen in human history”.

With the boost from technology, the American economy’s potential annual growth, which now stands at 2 to 3 per cent, is expected to reach 4 per cent by the end of the decade, said the economist, who is also the chairman and CEO of Roubini Macro Associates.

[W]e can cause a lot of damage in the short-run by doing lots of stupid things

Nouriel Roubini, economist

He added that the figure could reach 6 per cent by 2040 and 10 per cent by 2050, noting “the other big beneficiary of this innovation”, alongside the US, will be China.

While also acknowledging headwinds such as geopolitical conflicts, oil shocks and ageing populations, he said the economic drag from these factors would be only about a quarter of the boost generated by technological advancements.