I bought his book over 2 years ago and am reading it again at the moment. Harry Dent started his professional career forecasting trends for insurance companies, etc, basing his findings on how people consume through their life cycle and how it affects economies. Eg, a human being consumes the most calories at the age of 14 and also spends the most money at age 48. With info like that, he was able to predict the boom in the early nineties when a good portion of baby boomers were entering that 'power age' group, but at the same time many forecasters were predicting a depression from that point onwards.
The book was released late 2008 or early 2009 and its forecasts for where we are now have been mostly eerily accurate. His forecasts for the immediate future are not good, based on the information that's laid out in front of him. Make your own mind on that one tho.
Here's a caption from the rear of his book; "the year 2009 marks the beginning of the next downturn and the initial end of prosperity in almost every market. Are you aware that we have been seen long-term peaks in our stock market and economy almost every 40 years due to generational spending trends: as in 1929, 1968, and next around 2009? Are you aware that oil and commodity prices have peaked nearly every 30 years, as in 1920, 1951, 1980 - and next likely around late 2009 to mid 2010? The 3 massive bubbles that have been booming for the last few decades - stocks, real estate and commodities - have all reached thair peak and are deflating simultaneously"
As I said, make your own mind on that one. The book's worth a read
