Fred Harrison (author) - in The Media

In The Media

Harrison has been very active in the UK media, with dozens of newspaper and magazine articles, and many TV and radio interviews. Since 2005, several commentators have agreed that his predictions have consistently proved correct. As an example, in 2005 there was an almost unanimous view that the rise in house prices would moderate and that any talk of a "housing bubble" was both premature and indicated a false understanding of debt economics. Harrison warned that there would be a two-year explosive growth in prices and property speculation before the market imploded in the winter of 2007/08 with heavy damage to the financial markets. As shown by the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, he was essentially correct on all points. His prediction that the problems with debt economics and scaling would contribute to a worldwide economic collapse in 2010 has not, as of mid-2009, been fully borne out, but there has been a major recession as a result of the mortgage crisis.

Both in the UK and worldwide, until 2008 most media commentators and economic theorists dubbed him the 'Prophet of Doom' and his pragmatic approach was rebuffed in favour of mainstream assertions that the "new economy" was destined to sustain growth. Some niche media outlets agreed with his thesis and continued to publish his work. His books are widely distributed. With the collapse of the US and UK banks in 2008, some elements of the media began to reconsider his ideas, and he is now engaged primarily in making documentaries to explain and quantify his theories.