The Great Depression Ahead: How to Prosper in the Crash Following the Greatest Boom in History

by Harry S. Dent Jr.

Book Overview

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416588981
• ISBN13: 9781416588986
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Best advice found nowhere else

People who judge him harshly are basing their opinion on a very narrow point of view. I own his book from the 90's which predicted this huge market crash. I have his charts that accurately predict it. In 2002 when I was looking at houses to buy I decided to stay away from real estate because his charts show a bad market years ahead.(he was right) I knew from his book I had maybe five years to own the house and sell and decided rather just stay out of the housing market because timing the peak would not be easy(that save me $200,000 based on the value of homes around here). This decade he did change some predictions delaying the horrible scenerio based on immigration numbers. If he had stuck with his original forecast he would have been better off. To say he is wrong is an overstatement. Being off by a couple years does not make him wrong. Use the information wisely. Based on his original book I've been telling people we will be in a Depression around 2008-2009. That was years ago going all the way back to 1994. Now we are in a Depression, or the very beginning of one. People hate those who make predictions. The CNBC "experts" went with popular opinion saying the market will just keep going good. They were wrong, Dent was right. Get this book, it's a great resource to keep your money growing.

Market decisions given focus

After reading this book and reviewing Dent's former books on profiting from economic bubbles, I have applied some defensive actions and thus far have started to build profit and also manage losses within various portfolios. I believe he is on track with this book and many can benefit from his insight.

Whether you believe it or not, this book should be read.

Given the economic nature of our economy I think several hours spent reading this book is not only prudent, but smart. Dent has a proven track record in the past of properly predicting economic times and events due to his passionate and detailed research of economic trends and demographics. When I first read about this book, I thought they might be semi-substantiated prognostications, however the detail with which Mr. Dent discusses to back his predictions are tireless...almost a bit too tireless! This book does not have to be read straight through cover to cover, as the chapters are partitioned off in ways to ensure you can go directly where you want to get the most valuable information to you sooner rather than later. Essentially what Mr. Dent says is that things are going to get much worse before they get better and that if you can have significant cash in hand toward the end of 2012, you will be able to get great deals on stocks, real estate, commodities, etc. This is due to a number of factors but largely demographics and economic trends that show the above mention stock market, real estate market, and commodity market all taking a dive during the same period, which is a cycle that has never happened before. Mr. Dent believes there is a cause and effect for everything which is not thought of as much as it should be. He is quite brash in his predictions and mentions his previous books and newsletters and website much more than he should. He pulls no punches and has several chapters that are fairly boring such as that about Global Demographic trends. That being said, the parts that are readable and interesting to you will more than likely at least give you something to think about. I think it's hard to argue with his statistics and research, so the question is then if you believe that those things add up to the same things he feels they will. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in ensuring they stay ahead of the game through the dire times presumably ahead. If I did have a criticism about this book it would be that it spends way too much time discussing how bad things will get and why, while spending way too little time on what to do about it. Certainly he discusses that, but it is more of a gloss over, really. Essentially what he says is that for the next 3 years, there really aren't too many safe places to put your money.

Isn't Harvey Dent Two-Face?

Oh, wait, this is HARRY Dent. I am quite persuaded that a sophisticated study of demographics can power macro economic predictions. However, initially, I was put off by the sensational use of "great depression" in the title. It sounded like a title designed to sell. However, this book makes some very strong points. Most powerful is Dent's statement that populations in the most developed countries will be past their prime spending years in the next decade. This, combined with a huge bubble in the amount of credit that individual have accumulated, certainly makes me think that tough times are ahead. However, I have trouble believing that real estate won't rebound much more quickly. Real estate is real estate. "Safe as houses." And Dent's prediction that no major technological innovations will come along in the next 15 years is just that. A prediction. Now, sure, I don't expect us to keep innovating at the pace we did from 1985 to 1995, but when he hangs part of his argument on a pure prediction, it weakens the book quite substantially. My bottom line: some superb and depressing arguments certainly don't lead me to buy into the incredibly detailed timeline he proposes regarding economic downturns and upturns.

GIVE THE GUY A BREAK!

No economist is always right. Dent's basic concept of predicting the economy is spot on. It's just the more finer details that get him into trouble. That's what happens when you start writing books instead of just sticking with what you do best. To Dent's credit he has stuck his neck out on some big calls against all other economist and he prevailed. He was actually one of the earliest if not the first to call this coming depression in his first book published in 1993 called "The Great Boom Ahead." Page 16 - "The next great depression will be from 2008 to 2023" "the mother of all depressions" "No amount of government stimulus will prevent it, just as it didn't prevent the Great Depression of the 1930's." Some big words considering he said them 15 years ago. Yah, Harry has called some bad ones over the years but unfortunatly I think he got this one right. I hope he's wrong!