He is less wealthy than the likes of Nouriel Roubini, Paul Krugman, Joe Stiglitz or Amartya Sen, and he has yet to win a Nobel prize for economics, but in his own quiet way the figure of Edward Hugh has just as respectable a record, if not more, in the treacherous field of economic forecasting – and in particular the near collapse of the euro. Germany abandoned the Deutschemark in 2002 when it joined the single currency. Hugh said demographics do not explain everything. "There's no future for any country that is in the sort of mess that these countries are in -- they need the protection of the eurozone," he said. But look how the Greeks and the Germans lose no opportunity to have a go at one another.
– A British man who's made his living as a part-time English teacher in Spain for decades is suddenly the hottest name in economics, because he got it right. Blogger Edward Hugh correctly predicted the current Eurozone crisis, pinpointing the reason as the difference in demographics between Germany and countries like Greece, where a younger population has borrowed heavily to buy property. He warned that it would eventually prove impossible for the Eurozone countries to coexist under the same currency, the Independent notes. The IMF, international banks, and even the White House have been seeking Hugh's advice lately, and Paul Krugman tells CNN that "I wish he posted more." The 59-year-old says he's been getting plenty of job offers but he has no plans to give up his life in the countryside outside Barcelona. "I moved here to get way from the office. All these offers I'm getting, really, they can go and jump in the lake as far as I'm concerned." He did agree to attend a conference of Spanish businessmen and economists discussing the crisis last month, although he had to borrow money from friends to buy a suit.