The European Union is 'doomed to fail,' says 'Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb

The European Union is doomed to fail, "Black Swan" author Nassim Nicholas Taleb said Thursday. He told CNBC's "Power Lunch" the EU has become a "metastatic and rather incompetent bureaucracy" that is too intrusive.


"The way they've been building it top down from Brussels is doomed to fail. This is 2016. They are still thinking 1950 economics," said Taleb, who is also the author of "Antifragile" and is an advisor to Universa Investments.

Taleb has warned about an EU breakup for some time, calling it a horrible, stupid project back in 2012.

In fact, the U.K.'s vote to exit the EU last week didn't turn out to be the catastrophe that was expected, he said. While Brexit fears initially rattled global markets, stocks have been climbing back up over the last few days.

While he's against the current bureaucracy in place in the Europe, he still believes countries can work together, forming free trade agreements and joint military and economic policies. He envisions an Anglo-Saxon economic zone that encompasses the U.S., Ireland, Scotland and Britain.