The Federal Reserve is still price-fixing the cost of money and artificially boosting the stock market, Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group, told CNBC on Tuesday, as central bank policymakers begin their two-day meeting.
"Central banks want to think that things are positive, that it puts 'beer goggles' on investors' eyes," Boockvar said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "If you look at 2013, we've had pretty sluggish and mediocre growth. We've had low single-digit earnings growth, but we've had another massive gain in the stock market. And that's because of central bank largess."
The Fed is scheduled to conclude its September meeting Wednesday, and many economists believe it will announce the start of tapering its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program.
(Read more: Market expects $15 billion Fed taper soon: CNBC survey and Fed taper likely this week: El-Erian)
The economy isn't doing better, according to Boockvar, because consumers are nervous about their salaries. "Statistically, the government tells us that inflation is very low, but incomes are not keeping up with the cost of living."
(Read more: Inflation rises 0.1% in August, below forecasts)
At the same time, investors are trying to read the tea leaves on who will be the next Fed chair, now that former Obama economic adviser Larry Summers has pulled his name for consideration.
Boockvar said he believes Janet Yellen, the vice chair of the Fed, will be the one to take over for Ben Bernanke, who is expected to step down in January.
(Read more: Is Bernanke still possible after Summers?)
—By CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere. Follow him on Twitter @Matt_SquawkCNBC.