Nouriel Roubini has risen to fame in the business world for his notoriously pessimistic forecasts for the U.S. and global economy.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Among the financial world are a number of gurus whose reputations and investing prowess have earned them memorable nicknames.

Thanks to his investing savvy and successful managing of

Berkshire Hathaway

's

(BRK.A) - Get Report

legendary portfolio,

Warren Buffett is often referred to as the Oracle of Omaha. For managing the world's largest mutual fund, the

Pimco Total Return Fund

(PTTRX) - Get Report

, and heading the bond conglomerate, Pimco,

Bill Gross is referenced as the "Bond King."

Jim Rogers has earned a nickname, "the Indiana Jones of Finance," after circling the world on two different occasions.

Meanwhile, New York University economics professor Nouriel Roubini has earned the title of "Dr. Doom."

Different from the other market commentators and financial leaders listed above, Roubini has not gained a following through his investing savvy. Rather, this professor has risen to fame in the business world for his notoriously pessimistic forecasts for the U.S. and global economy.

Expect Second Half Slump, Says Roubini

Born in Istanbul, Roubini spent his early childhood living in both Tehran and Tel Aviv. Upon graduating from an Italian college he moved to the United States to study for his doctorate in International Economics at Harvard University. After receiving his degree, he began teaching at Yale University. In 1995, he joined NYU's Stern School of Business where he has remained since.

Throughout his career, Roubini has also worked for the IMF, the Federal Reserve and the World Bank.

Today, Dr. Doom lives in Manhattan and continues to teach at NYU while serving as chairman of Roubini Global Economics. Founded in 2004, RGE is a consultancy firm that provides clients with research and analysis pertaining to global macroeconomics. Additionally, Roubini's newest book,

Crisis Economics

was released in early May.

In 2006, Roubini made waves and earned his moniker when, in front of an audience of economists at the International Monetary Fund, he offered a dire warning. He predicted that in the near future the United States would witness a credit crunch and face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust. Ultimately, this would lead to recession.

At the time, listeners were unconvinced by this professor's pessimistic outlook. However, in the following year those opinions changed. The dominos began to fall just as Roubini had predicted: the housing market went bust, lenders went under and the broad stock market tanked. The global economy was on the brink of collapse and once dismissed Roubini was now being touted as a prophet.

Nouriel Roubini

Roubini was not the only one who accurately foresaw the events leading up to the most recent global economic meltdown. The professor, however, has set himself apart from some other crash forecasters with his unwavering persistency even after the Great Recession.

Since the 2006 prediction that put him on the map, Roubini has followed up with more fire and brimstone warnings for the global economy. Even throughout the market's staggering recovery in 2009, Dr. Doom refused to shy away from the bearish stance. During times of market strength and uncertainty alike, his unfaltering negative outlook for the global economy's future has earned him plenty of press. Today he is featured as a popular guest on many top financial news programs as well as a speaker at reputable economic summits.

This week, in light of the current economic crises facing developed and emerging regions of the world, Roubini has again added to the conversation. This time, Dr. Doom forecast that markets could continue to head lower, tumbling as much as 20% in the near future thanks to broad global weakness. In order to protect against this expected downturn, Roubini suggests holding cash and investing in short-term debt issued by the nations freest of debt. Germany and Canada are among the nations whose debt he would approve of holding.

Nouriel Roubini's consistently bearish outlook for the U.S. and global economy has earned him both adoring fans and harsh critics. What are your feelings toward this professor? Is he a macroeconomic sage? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Don Dion is president and founder of

Dion Money Management

, a fee-based investment advisory firm to affluent individuals, families and nonprofit organizations, where he is responsible for setting investment policy, creating custom portfolios and overseeing the performance of client accounts. Founded in 1996 and based in Williamstown, Mass., Dion Money Management manages assets for clients in 49 states and 11 countries. Dion is a licensed attorney in Massachusetts and Maine and has more than 25 years' experience working in the financial markets, having founded and run two publicly traded companies before establishing Dion Money Management.

Dion also is publisher of the Fidelity Independent Adviser family of newsletters, which provides to a broad range of investors his commentary on the financial markets, with a specific emphasis on mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. With more than 100,000 subscribers in the U.S. and 29 other countries, Fidelity Independent Adviser publishes six monthly newsletters and three weekly newsletters. Its flagship publication, Fidelity Independent Adviser, has been published monthly for 11 years and reaches 40,000 subscribers.