Tax and food riots to pervade the country

Trends Research Institute founder predicts that the worst is yet to come
By Naresh Vissa, The Daily Orange
Posted: 10/21/09, 1:30 AM EST Section: Opinion

Our society tends to take the Nostradamus-type forecasters with a grain of salt, but Trends Research Institute founder Gerald Celente's record of predictions is nearly flawless. His accurate forecasts include the 1987 stock market crash, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 1997 Asian currency crash, the sub-prime mortgage scandal and the latest economic downturn caused by the breakdown of major corporate giants.

Dubbed as the world's greatest trends forecaster by CNN, USA Today and CNBC, Celente insists that despite the latest market bounce, and increase in consumer confidence, the economy's fundamentals are broken.

"This is a sucker's flame," Celente said from his office in Kingston, N.Y. "It's a false-flag recovery. The stimulus, bailout and buyout packages being forced on the nation, by an administration that misread how bad the economy was, will only lead to Obamageddon: The Fall of Empire America."

Celente cites the global financial system as terminally ill because it has been built on endless supplies of cheap money, rampant speculation, fraud, greed and delusion. He sees a collapse coming, and predicts that by 2012 everyone will face the truth, and we will be in the midst of the Greatest Depression of them all.

"Washington is inflating the biggest bubble ever: the bailout bubble," Celente said. "This is much bigger than the dot-com and real estate bubbles. When the bailout bubble bursts, it should be understood that a major war could follow."

The economist expects tax and food riots to pervade the country. People will be giving each other food stamps for Christmas. Crime will increase to all-time highs. Then the worst possible situation will arise: the United States of America will disunite.

"There could be a day the U.S. goes the way of the former Soviet Union," Celente said. "It's going to start breaking up because people are going to realize Washington does not have the answers."

Nonetheless, Celente's predictions are still grossly speculative. He is leading the pack during a time when "doom and gloomers" are stealing the spotlight. The attention he's getting is helping him and his business. I'd personally put down more of my money on the Mayan Calendar, which says that 2012 will mark the end of the world and the beginning of a new era.

As outlandish as Celente's claims may be, he does bring up some legitimate points. The comparisons we hear in the media of this crisis to the Great Depression are not logical. During the Depression era, most people didn't own homes or credit cards. The country was not $15 trillion in debt. We led the world in manufacturing and had trade and budget surpluses.

Today, we have a service economy highly dependent on foreign nations for quality products at affordable prices. What we need is a new Industrial Revolution, or dot-com-type innovation, that will create jobs and increase productive capacity. Otherwise, unemployment will continue to increase and the government won't be able to create sustainable jobs that in turn can create wealth. The Federal Reserve can continue to throw money at the problem, but that would end up stagflating the economy and putting us in an even more unfavorable position.

"Prepare for the worst, then you have the luxury to pull back," Celente said. "It costs nothing to prepare."


Naresh Vissa, a junior accounting, broadcast journalism and finance major. His column appears weekly, and he can be reached at nvrammoh@syr.edu.