The 10 Worst Predictions of 2008

Foreign Policy has taken ten quotes from commentators, pundits and leaders around the world that were just plainly off and quite possibly the worst predictions of 2008. Good thing these guys are not quitting their day job to become fortunetellers. Here is my favorite four of the ten.

  1. “If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she’s going to be the nominee. Gore is the only threat to her, then. … Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single Democratic primary. I’ll predict that right now.” —William Kristol, Fox News Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006
  2. “Peter writes: ‘Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there?’ No! No! No! Bear Stearns is fine! Do not take your money out. … Bear Stearns is not in trouble. I mean, if anything they’re more likely to be taken over. Don’t move your money from Bear! That’s just being silly! Don’t be silly!” —Jim Cramer, responding to a viewer’s e-mail on CNBC’s Mad Money, March 11, 2008
  3. “[A]nyone who says we’re in a recession, or heading into one—especially the worst one since the Great Depression—is making up his own private definition of ‘recession.’” —Donald Luskin, The Washington Post, Sept. 14, 2008
  4. “The possibility of $150-$200 per barrel seems increasingly likely over the next six-24 months.” —Arjun Murti, Goldman Sachs oil analyst, in a May 5, 2008, report.

 Of course, John McCain and Republicans made the worst prediction when they assumed that they would win the General Election in 2008.

  • "I am sure that Barack Obama and his campaign today are frustrated because despite the unmitigated negative campaign they have run for the last three weeks, despite the financial crisis that is facing our nation, despite their massive spending in the last ten days, they are having a tough time breaking 50. And certainly they are concerned that the same thing that happened to them in the primaries, where all the undecided voters broke against them in the end, is weighing heavily on their minds." – Greg Strimple, The Huffington Post, Oct. 2, 2008

This prediction came around the time that John McCain would tell his supporters, “We’ve Got Obama Right Where We Want Him.” We know how that turned out didn’t we? You can read the entire list on the Foreign Policy website.

December 11, 2008 0 Comments Short URL