For those who, like Alan Greenspan, say they didn't see the mortgage market collapse coming, note that James Fallows published this article in the 2005 July/August issue of The Atlantic. It gives some history of the early Bush 2 presidency and speculates on trends he saw at the time, drawing on the results of similar events in other countries. Some things he obviously got wrong, at least in the details. Fidel didn't die but he has retired, and it has yet to produce the events of his imaginary death. I doubt Bin Ladin will ever be captured, at least not in Saudi Arabia. There is much speculation that he has died from his kidney disease and his death is being kept a secret as much from his followers as his enemies. A Venezuelan coup attempt could very well be orchestrated by the CIA. The last one in 2002 had the coup leaders spending a lot of time in the US embassy the couple weeks before they initiated it. The buyout of GM and Ford by Toyota is a possibility. The soaring deficit, and oil prices and the mortgage crises he got right but his time table was a little long.

If his predictions are correct regarding the fiscal problems of government and the ensuing fallout, it will indeed spell doom for which ever party is in office.

There is a great deal to be learned from the footnotes, which are copious.

I assume he is addressing this to some fictional third party candidate who now has a chance at the White House with both major parties in chaos.

Ruth

America's coming economic crisis. A look back from the election of 2016

by James Fallows

Countdown to a Meltdown

January 20, 2016, Master Strategy Memo
Subject: The Coming Year—and Beyond