ClaimsNouriel Roubini

“Even in a typical short and shallow recession the S&P 500 usually goes down by at least 30%.”

Nouriel Roubini, economist, interviewee 6 November 2022 Nouriel Roubini interview: recession, inflation, Great Depression (Fortune) archived copy

Factual Economics and markets

In a typical short and shallow recession the S&P 500 usually falls by at least 30%.

Mixed Partly true and partly false in roughly equal measure.

Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?

The second judge would not resolve this claim; the verdict shown is the first judge's.

What would count as true or false

Judge as of 2022-11-06, against the historical record of S&P 500 peak-to-trough declines around US recessions (NBER-dated). The claim is that in a typical mild recession the index usually falls at least 30%; it is hedged ('usually'). True: most post-war mild or short recessions saw S&P 500 drawdowns of about 30% or more (allow about 27%). Mostly true: the median or typical drawdown in such recessions is about 25–30%. Mixed: about half of the mild recessions reached about 30% and half did not, or the typical figure is about 20–25%. Mostly false: the typical drawdown in mild recessions was clearly below 30% (about 15–20%), with only some cases reaching it. False: drawdowns in mild recessions were typically well under 20%.

Set before the research began.

Evidence (4)

  1. E1 Some Thoughts on Bear Markets and Recessions T. Rowe Price · June 2022

    “median peak to trough decline in the S&P 500 has been 24%.”
  2. E2 TD Economics - TD Financial Stress Monitor TD Economics · 30 October 2020

    “In the post-WWII time period, the average S&P 500 Index decline during recession was 29.5%.”
  3. E3 The S&P 500 may rise less than expected as GDP growth slows Goldman Sachs · 26 March 2025

    “During 12 economic downturns since World War II, the S&P 500 typically declined by 24% from its peak, while earnings dropped by 13% (median peak-to-trough).”
  4. E4 CLIENT RESOURCE KIT First Trust Portfolios

    “Average Drawdown: -30.6%”

Reasoning

E1 and E3 put the median S&P 500 peak-to-trough decline at 24% across all post-war recessions, and E3 bases this on 12 downturns. A median of 24% means about half of the recessions saw declines of 24% or less, below 30%. E2 (29.5%) and E4 (-30.6%) give average declines near 30%, but averages can be pulled up by deep downturns, and none of the sources separates out mild recessions. Since the typical (median) figure is about 24%, which is in the criteria's 20–25% band, the claim that mild recessions usually bring declines of at least 30% resolves as mixed.

Cite this claim

Nouriel Roubini, “In a typical short and shallow recession the S&P 500 usually falls by at least 30%.” (said 6 November 2022). Verdict: mixed. Reliability API, claim c_c9a002ee1a03, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_c9a002ee1a03

This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.

Reply to this claim

For Nouriel Roubini, or someone speaking for them: a correction or counter-evidence. Replies are read before anything is shown; an approved reply shows your name, role, date, statement and link. Your email address is never shown and is deleted 30 days after the decision (privacy).

More factual claims by Nouriel Roubini

  1. Mostly true Factual October 2026
    “this year’s Iran War, which caused the largest energy shock since the oil crises of the 1970s.”

    The 2026 Iran War caused the largest energy shock since the oil crises of the 1970s.

  2. Mixed Factual November 2025
    “Although there was a massive boom in AI-related investments, uncertainties caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other polices curtailed growth in the second half of the year”

    Despite a massive boom in AI-related investment in 2025, uncertainty caused by President Trump's tariffs and other policies curtailed US growth in the second half of the year.

  3. Mixed Factual 3 January 2023
    “Stuff that is tech-related is hit by rising interest rates because they are long-duration assets, [which] are more sensitive to interest rates than shorter-duration assets.”

    Tech-related stocks, as long-duration assets, are hit by rising interest rates more than shorter-duration assets.

  4. Mostly false Factual 3 January 2023
    “Food prices were already spiking before the invasion because you have desertification of lots of parts of the world, and therefore the food supply is limited.”

    Food prices were already spiking before the invasion because desertification in many parts of the world limits the food supply.

  5. Mostly true Factual 3 January 2023
    “All the zombie institutions that survived before because we had negative [interest] rates, quantitative easing [and] credit easing, now face rising debt servicing ratios.”

    All the zombie institutions that survived because of negative interest rates, quantitative easing and credit easing now face rising debt servicing ratios.

All of them

Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.