Harry Dent, the outspoken financial writer and economist, has no plans to back down from his bold December declaration of “the biggest crash of our lifetimes.”
In a new interview with Fox News Digital, Dent warned that the “everything” bubble has not yet burst and that the crash could be bigger than the Great Recession.
“1925-29 was a natural bubble. There was no artificial stimulus behind it. So this is new. Nothing like this has ever happened before,” Dent said Tuesday. “If you want to cure a hangover, what do you do? You drink more. And that’s what they’ve done.”
“Pumping extra money into the economy forever may improve the overall economy in the long run, but we won’t know until we see this bubble pop,” he added. “Again, this bubble has lasted 14 years. Unlike most bubbles, [going] “It’s been five or six years, it’s been higher and it’s been longer. So we have to be prepared for a bigger crash than we had in 2008-2009.”
US stocks ended May with gains as the market neared the halfway mark for the year, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way with a 6.9% gain. The S&P 500 rose 4.8% and the Dow added 2.3%.
About two weeks ago, technology and AI-focused Nvidia announced a 10-for-1 stock split, and three days later its shares surpassed $1,000, hitting an all-time high.
“The S&P will fall 86% from its peak and the Nasdaq will fall 92%. Hero stocks like Nvidia are great companies, [goes] “It’s down 98%. It’s over,” Dent stressed.
“We have been [the] “The government should allow this completely artificial bubble to continue for 15 years and see what happens after that,” he continued, “but I can tell you that there has never been a bubble this big or this long in history that didn’t end badly.”
The only change to Dent’s forecast is the timing, with the market bottom now likely to come sometime between early and mid-2025.
At the heart of the bubble is the real estate market.
Dent has previously predicted that home prices will hit their lowest levels since 2012 this year, and on Tuesday claimed that U.S. home prices have already risen to more than double the level they are expected to soon.
“At no time in history has home ownership been so widespread and so many people are speculating on second and sometimes third homes,” Dent said, noting that in countries such as China and Japan, residents are increasingly buying vacant homes as collateral against a potential market crash.
“If we understood what true cycles are, we wouldn’t have to buy the most expensive home in history at the top of the market and then lament for 14 years the next downturn like 1929-1942 or 1968-1982,” the authors added. “Or what 2008-2022 would have been like without the $27 trillion stimulus.”
Dent also responded to critics who called his theory “madness” and accused him of fear-mongering.
“I just say what I see, and frankly, I don’t care if people don’t like it, because [have] “The choice is between telling the truth and pleasing the people,” he responded. “They call me a ‘permanent bear,’ which is complete and utter nonsense.”
“Looking back through history, this couldn’t be more clearer,” Dent continued. “Many other bubbles throughout history have not been as sudden or as large. Why? We didn’t realise that central banks had the power to print money out of thin air.”
Financial writers say people see him as “radical” for thinking it is “easier” to spot long-term trends than short-term ones.
“There’s really nowhere to run other than the safest bonds in the world,” Dent said. “We’re the largest economy in the world. We’ll survive this recession. And if we can print money to create a bubble, we can print money to pay down our national debt.”
“In the Great Depression, there was a big collapse. [from] 1929-32 and beyond [was] From ’38 to ’42. The situation reversed. 1718107143Because all the stimuli we receive [made] “The 2009 crash will be a smaller one. The big crash will come afterwards,” Dent stressed. “This will wipe all the excess out of the market and bring it down to where it should be, so millennials can enjoy a healthier boom and invest in their retirement savings.”
Dent predicted a “bubble within a bubble” and advised investors to move their capital out of the stock market in December. If he had to own a new stock, he would choose Bitcoin.
“Because at this early stage, it’s the major sector that’s seeing the most bubbly. Major sectors are the ones that you know are going to crash. Bitcoin is already down over 70%. We’re not in a recession yet, so it’s that volatile,” he explained. “It’s the sector that’s going to crash the most. If I could buy anything at the bottom in a couple of years, this is the one I’d buy.”
But Dent urges investors to remember: “This bubble was 100% created by the government. It was totally contrived, injected with drugs to artificially enhance performance. And also, everything from human life to history shows us that you don’t get something for nothing, and bubbles are going to pop – and they’re going to happen a lot more often than anyone expects.”
