Bestselling author and financial guru Harry Dent shows why we’re facing a “great deflation” after five years of desperate stimulus—and what to do about it now Throughout his long career as an economic forecaster, Harry Dent has relied on a not-so-secret weapon: demographics. Studying the predictable things people do as they age is the ultimate tool for understanding trends. For instance, Dent can tell a client exactly when people will spend the most on potato chips. And he can explain why our economy has risen and fallen with the peak spending of generations, and why we now face a growing demographic cliff with the accelerating retirement of the Baby Boomers around the world. Dent predicted the impact of the Boomers hitting their highest growth in spending in the 1990s, when most economists saw the United States declining. And he anticipated the decline of Japan in the 1990s, when economists were proclaiming it would overtake the U.S. economy. But now, Dent argues, the fundamental demographics have turned against the United States and will hit more countries ahead. Inflation rises when a larger than usual block of younger people enter the workforce, and it wanes when large numbers of older people retire, downsize their homes, and cut their spending. The mass retirement of the Boomers won’t just hold back inflation; it and massive debt deleveraging will actually cause deflation—weakening the economy the most from 2014 into 2019. Dent explores the implications of his controversial predictions. He offers advice on retirement planning, health care, real estate, education, investing, and business strategies. For instance… Businesses should get lean and mean now. Identify segments that you can clearly dominate and sell off or shut down others. If you don’t, the economy will do it for you, more painfully and less profitably. Investors should sell stocks by mid-January 2014 and look to buy them back in 2015 or later at a Dow as low as 5,800. Families should wait to buy real estate in areas where home prices have gone back to where the bubble started in early 2000. Governments need to stop the endless stimulus that creates more bubbles and kills the middle class, and should assist in restructuring the unprecedented debt bubble of 1983–2008. Dent shows that if you take the time to understand demographic data, using it to your advantage isn’t all that difficult. By following his suggestions, listeners will be able to find the upside to the downturn and learn how to survive and prosper during the most challenging years ahead.
One of his best I’ve always enjoyed Harry Dent but reminded myself to take him and other prognosticators in the realm of Armageddonomics with a grain of salt. This book is another detailed list predictions, albeit better researched than his other works and in the end, probably more accurate.The author forecasts for the global economy with a focus on implications for America, particularly as we scrape through the current fiscal mess with 77 million baby boomers on the verge of entering what they…
A significant book. Must read. Fire editor and publisher. This is a very significant book and I would recommend that everyone read it. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the author digresses significantly and often into topics for which he demonstrates very little expertise. I was frustrated and found myself skimming about 40 percent of this book as trash. The other 60 percent was very important and worth it at twice the price. Definitely a recommend, but with the qualification that you be patient and be willing to skip through portions of the book…