Will history repeat itself in the fourth quarter this year?

Martin Feldstein, a professor of economics at Harvard University, says there's a possibility the economy may contract again before year's end.

Just when the economy seems to be inching back up, Feldstein sees it sliding back down.

"There is a real danger this is going to be a double dip and that after six months or so we'll have some more bad news," Feldstein said in a Bloomberg TV interview.

Feldstein is president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research, which determines recessions, and a former Reagan adviser.

Although the currently skittish economy may stabilize or turn positive in the third quarter, says Feldstein, it's "likely" to contract once more in the last 90 days of 2009 as the Obama's stimulus program runs out of steam.

"There isn't going to be enough to sustain a really solid recovery," Feldstein said, despite some good profit numbers posted recently and a climbing Dow.

But don't blame Bernanke — as some others have done — says Feldstein.

The Fed chair has "done a very good job and I think he should be reappointed," Feldstein told Bloomberg News.

Bernanke has a variety of technical methods to cap and control inflation, according to Feldstein.

Despite Feldstein's negative near-term outlook, there's still some bullish sentiment out there.

Brian S. Wesbury and Robert Stein, columnists for Forbes, have a positive view of the fourth quarter and predict that the Dow will finish the year at 10,000.