Roubini: Economic Recovery to Be 'Very Ugly'

Nouriel Roubini, the economist whose dire forecasts earned him the nickname "Doctor Doom", told CNBC Monday that the economic recovery is going to be "very ugly."

cnbc.com

"The recovery is going to be subpar," Roubini said. "I see a one percent growth in the economy in the next few years. There will also be 11 percent unemployment next year and the recovery is going to be slow. It's going to feel like a recession even when it ends."

Asked about his comments in a speech last week about the recession ending in 2009, Roubini said, "I've been saying all along the recession is going to last 24 months. It started in December of 2007 and my view is that it won't be over until December of this year."

Roubini has said those comments were taken out of context. Several business news outlets, picking up on a report initially from Reuters, cited Roubini as saying that the worst of the economic financial crisis may be over.

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When asked about the economy Monday, Roubini said, "We may be out of a freefall for the financial system," said Roubini. "We have seen the worst in that sense. But in my view there is a sluggish U shaped recovery that might go into a W double dip if we don't fix the problems in the economy."

Other comments from Roubini

On a second stimulus: "I think there will be another one toward the end of the year. We need to have more shovel ready labor intensive infrastructure projects. We'll need it."

On investing in today's markets: "A "Stay away from risky assets. I think from now on the surprise will be on the downside in areas like commodities."

On which country exits the global recession first: "The US should be the first, but emerging markets do have some movement."