Book Review: The Great Depression Ahead in USA

Submitted by retimes on Fri, 2009-01-16 02:30

Can Obama save USA? If you think the answer to this question is yes, you're in for a shock. What the new President can do is supply hope and stimulus, while pointing in a different direction. But there is a reason why Obama's book was titled The Audacity of Hope, and it's because there are larger trends at work here which overshadow any Presidential term.

In his new book THE GREAT DEPRESSION AHEAD author Harry S. Dent, Jr. outlines these trends in startling detail, and from a wider perspective than merely one political season. Having successfully predicted the crash of Fall 2008 years ago, Dent was also the author of The Great Boom Ahead, published in 1992, when he stood virtually alone in forecasting the unanticipated boom of the 1990s. And now he is saying that the party is over. Dent holds a Harvard MBA, is a Fortune 100 consultant, and is president of the HS Dent Foundation, whose mission is to help business leaders understand change. His analytical techniques have allowed him to predict economic trends with unprecedented accuracy, which is why this latest book is such an eye-opener, and is narrated by the author himself on audio.

Among the predictions being made here is that we are at the end of an historic boom cycle, and so while the economy may appear to recover from the subprime crisis and "minor recession" by mid to late 2009, (given Obama's deficit spending to aid infrastructure and create jobs), it is actually "the calm before the real storm." By 2010 America will enter a truly Great depression, with stocks not reaching their lows until 2012. Scared yet? You should be. Because this means that housing prices will continue to fall along with stocks, and so despite the supposedly "low" valuations of today, it is advisable to sell now if you can, and to rent, waiting to buy again after the housing market hits bottom by 2012. And there's more.

A global bull market will not return until 2020 at the earliest. Still, there is a silver lining here. According to Dent, there are buying opportunities along the way, particularly in long term bonds as inflation's brief return will cause the Fed to raise interest rates. Also, the depression will cause Congress to act in restructuring entitlement programs and in taxing the rich. An enhanced CD includes a PDF file of various charts and graphs, outlining the major trends of the past, and extending them into the future. State by state breakdowns of population changes and market projections are included, too.

Bottom line? The era of conspicuous consumption is over, as leaders cut waste and fraud in an effort to avoid the collapse of the dollar. As all the bubbles pop, we will all be forced to either ACT or perish. (Simon & Schuster Audio; 2009; 6 hours abridged) Interview with Harry S. Dent Jr, appears at JustSayNoWay (dot) com.

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