Harry S. Dent, Jr. has an MBA from Harvard, was a consultant for several Fortune 100 companies while at Bain & Company, and is the founder of Dent Research, which publishes several financial advice newsletters. Dent believes that we are in the largest financial bubble in recent history and headed for a massive recession or more likely, a depression where stocks will take a "70 to 90% devaluation." In the first half, he pointed to financial problems in China, which he said has "the biggest debt bubble of anybody at any time in history" and could trigger a worldwide financial downturn if the nation cannot keep up with their massive debt. He believes this coming devaluation of stocks, real estate, and other economic indicators will be far worse than the 2008-2009 crash.
Dent predicts that this crash will occur in the next year or so, depending on how the present U.S. government handles the economy in the next few months. He also lamented the extreme polarity in American politics, and sees it as a symptom of more strife to come, even to the point of some sort of civil war; certainly worse than the Great Depression in the 1930s and the mood of the country at that time. Dent lives in the territory of Puerto Rico, which he says shows none of the partisan divisiveness of the mainland, and offers numerous tax advantages and cheap real estate. He suggests that people keep their money in bonds during the downturn which he sees lasting until 2022 or 2023.
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In the second half, clinical psychiatrist Dr. Manuel Matas discussed events and experiences that fall outside the realm of current scientific thought and how we are still grappling with their validity in a world of empirical science and psychiatry that deems anything unseen or spiritual as impossible, weird, or even disturbed. Matas traced his interest in paranormal experience to his own multiple NDEs and emphasized that his book is "based entirely on my own experiences." One instance that made Matas realize that he needed to start talking about what was happening to him was seeing what he perceived as "two angels" on either side of his father’s coffin while at the funeral. He recalled that "they were the most beautiful creatures" but he "didn’t know what to make of it."
Matas also shared that he tries to keep his psychiatric practice separate from his paranormal studies, but occasionally the issue arises with some of his patients. In that case, he said that he tries to help people to "distinguish between a psychic experience and and psychotic experience" since "certain types of psychic experiences such as telepathy or ESP are quite common." Matas distinguished between the two by pointing out that a psychic experience only happens once or twice in life, and are almost always calming to the individual who experiences them, while mental disorders tend to be ongoing and disturbing. He concluded that "it improves the quality of life that there is something else out there" besides what most of us consider mundane reality.
News segment guests: Mike Bara, John Curtis