'Dr. Boom'? Roubini sees two years of stock gains

Stock market prices will continue to rise for the next two years until the wealth gap between Wall Street and Main Street gets too high and reality sets in, economist Nouriel Roubini told CNBC.

Worry about the Federal Reserve backing off its historically unprecedented monetary easing is premature, Roubini said, as economic growth is too tenuous and the market too dependent on the USD 85 billion in monthly asset purchases from the central bank.

"Growth is not going to pick up and inflation actually is falling," the head of Roubini Global Economics and noted "Dr. Doom" told " Closing Bell ." "So the markets are worried about tapering off sooner, but I think tapering off is going to occur later and therefore the market is going to rally."

Stocks have staged a huge surge this year despite tepid economic growth, with the Standard and Poor's 500 rising 0.6 percent Monday and 15 percent for 2015.

Much of the gains have been associated closely with the Fed's so-called quantitative easing program, in which the central bank buys Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities each month in order to keep interest rates low and encourage risk.

Also Read: Falling commodity prices bad news for everyone: Roubini

While the program has coincided with a resurgence of the housing market, the broader economy remains in flux, a condition Roubini expects to continue.

"You're going to have an increasing gap between Wall Street and Main Street, between what's happening to asset prices and real economic growth," he said. The effect of the Fed helping stock prices "for now is dominant, but of course over time it cannot trump those gravitational forces of economic fundamentals."

In the meantime, the Fed will continue to try to manage its exit in a way that won't be too disruptive either to rates or the market forces on Wall Street.

"When the Fed is going to exit, it's going to have exit very, very slowly," Roubini said. "The economy is weak and the stock market does not want a correction."

-By CNBC's Jeff Cox. Follow him on Twitter @JeffCoxCNBCcom .

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