In the first half of the show, founder and director of the Trends Research Institute, Gerald Celente, talked about what he sees on the horizon for the United States, and the major trends emerging for 2016. He referred to the current election cycle as the "Presidential Reality Show," with the debates being a kind of hijacked "game show" controlled by various corporations, instead of groups that used to manage them like the League of Women Voters. The media corporations are getting around $250,000 for a 30-second commercial during the debates, he added. Donald Trump's popularity is based on voter disenchantment with the political process, but he's also alienated a large portion of voters, said Celente, who predicts that Hillary Clinton will probably win if she goes up against him, though a third party candidate could yet enter the race.
According to Celente, one of the big trends this year is self-sustainability. This is being seen in a number of countries with large enough populations and resources that can build and sustain economies that are self-sufficient and lucrative by manufacturing and growing what they need, and trading within their own borders. He also sees Virtual Reality coming of age, with rapid development in a number of sectors beyond gaming and entertainment, such as education and medicine. VR is a big investment opportunity, right now, he enthused.
Celente cited "Human Waves" as an ongoing trend for 2016 and beyond, with millions of migrants fleeing war-torn nations looking for safety, contributing to the worst refugee crisis since WWII. On the economic front, he foresees the "Panic of 2016" being worse than the crisis of 2008, because of various economic interventions such as quantitative easing and zero interest rate policies leading to a crash.
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Among the callers during Midweek Open Lines were Sarah Rose, who described her mission to bring different generations together in sustainable communities. Michael in Topeka shared his methods of investing in silver, and John in Colorado talked about the nation being out of balance.
Angelica, an artist in Tuscon, discussed her creative process and how she paints pictures of children from the beyond, and other time periods. Dave from Tahoe, CA noted that he'd gone to see many of the presidential candidates' presentations, and was most impressed by Ted Cruz, because he's the only one who's spoken out about the need to protect the electrical grid.
News guests: Howard Bloom, Catherine Austin Fitts, Steve Kates