Nouriel Roubini - Writer and economist
Where are you going on holiday this year? Recently I have lived like the George Clooney character in Up in the Air (a film I watched on a plane). If I get a vacation this summer it would possibly be a tour of crisis-hit countries – if I am still allowed in them: Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Latvia, Greece and, maybe, the oil spill-ridden US Gulf Coast.
What do you think about during your holiday? How to forget financial crises and get a PhD in Pleasure and Leisure from the Institute for Advanced Vacations.
What will you be reading on holiday? Lofty geo-globaloney tomes on the future of the world.
What will you be listening to on holiday? Cheesy, schmaltzy, corny, syrupy beach songs such as those I would listen to in my teens on the Italian Riviera.
Ideal travelling companion – dead, alive, historical, fictional? Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist who – as a true Renaissance man – argued that his three goals in life were to be the best economist, the best horseback rider and the best lover of his generation. He claims he achieved only two of them: I would ask him which and for good practical tips to achieve such goals.
Do you cook or eat out on holiday? As an economist I strictly believe in the principle of comparative advantage: so I always eat out. Also it is the best way to get to know the local cuisine.
Will you switch on your “Out of Office”? I am a total “crackberry” addict so I never switch off. Last summer I wrote a whole article, that was urgently due, on my BlackBerry while sailing off the St Tropez coast.
Where would you like to go next? Bora Bora in Polynesia for scuba diving among the sharks.
Alan Greenspan - Former US Federal Reserve chairman
Where are you going on holiday this year? Aspen, Colorado, and possibly Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to play golf. Golf at higher altitudes is good for the ego – balls fly further.
What do you think about during your holiday? The same things I think about when not on vacation but obviously to the extent that I’m playing tennis and golf, I do give proper consideration to my form.
What will you be reading on holiday? History – Lords of Finance: The Bankers who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed; biography – John Marshall: Definer of a Nation by Jean Edward Smith.
What will you be listening to on holiday? Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, and Brahms. On occasion, a little Benny Goodman.
Ideal travelling companion – dead, alive, historical, fictional? My wife. She outdistances all other possibilities.
Do you cook or eat out on holiday? Both. Nobody wishes to partake of my cooking.
Will you switch on your “Out of Office”? No. I would spend my vacation worrying about what was going on back home.
What do you most, and least, enjoy about travelling? The scenic views. I find sitting in contemplation as I look up at the peaks of the Grand Tetons in Jackson Hole most rewarding. Airport congestion and long queues can ruin my vacation.
Where did you go on holiday as a child? To the wilds of New Jersey. For a kid brought up on the streets of Manhattan, they seemed truly exotic.
