“Bearishness has its benefits these days. Just ask Stephen S. Roach, Morgan Stanley’s chief economist and currently Wall Street’s leading merchant of doom,” writes Michael Steinberger in today’s New York Times.

“Last month, Mr. Roach made his debut on ‘Hardball,’ MSNBC’s nightly political scrum. Rather than the mauling that most guests receive, he was treated like visiting royalty. Chris Matthews, the program’s host, introduced Mr. Roach as a “very prestigious fellow” and, in a rare display of deference from Hardball’s brusque ringmaster, only interrupted him three times. That was not all.”

” ‘I’d never even seen this show before,’ Mr. Roach said, ‘and the next morning, random people are coming up to me saying, “Great job on Hardball.” I was amazed.’ “

“For Mr. Roach, the spotlight is shining hotter than ever. He was among the earliest on Wall Street to say that the economy was about to hit a wall — he issued his forecast in early January — and no one has articulated the case more aggressively or provocatively.”

“Indeed, though the economic data remain mixed about the extent of the downturn, he has turned even more negative lately, saying that evidence of a sharp slowdown was ‘the most compelling I’ve seen in 20 years.’ “

“While the markets seem confident that the economy’s slide will be easily reversed, Mr. Roach says that the bottoming has only begun and that the country is facing a long stretch of anemic growth.”

“He has also offered a withering critique of the economic boom of the late 1990’s: Far from being a powerful expression of American ingenuity and industriousness, it was a textbook example of the damage that can be done when financial manias rage unchecked.”

“Sweeping judgments are nothing new for Mr. Roach. He often goes beyond Fed watching and number crunching to consider the larger forces in the marketplace, as well as the social consequences of economic policy. The conclusions he draws are frequently at odds with Wall Street’s prevailing wisdom.”:

“The starkness of his opinions also invites some understandable needling. After listening to Mr. Roach sketch an especially dire outlook at a roundtable discussion in February sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, John Lipsky, chief economist at J. P. Morgan Chase, replied sarcastically: ‘So, I guess that means we’re never going to grow again?’ “

“Mr. Roach is not quite that pessimistic, but in the wake of the jump in April unemployment figures, he is more certain than ever that a turbulent ride is in store.”