13 WORST PREDICTIONS MADE ON EARTH DAY, 1970

13 Worst Predictions Made on Earth Day, 1970

By Jon Gabriel on April 22, 2013
The 1970s were a lousy decade. Embarrassing movies, dreadful music and downright terrifying clothes reflected the national mood following an unpopular war, endless political scandals and a faltering economy.

Popular culture was consumed with decline, especially Hollywood. The Omega Man, Soylent Green, Damnation Alley and countless other dystopian films showed a planet wrecked by war, pollution and neglect. In large part, the entertainment industry was reflecting the culture at large.

In 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated — okay, “celebrated” doesn’t capture the funereal tone of the event. The events (organized in part by then hippie and now convicted murderer Ira Einhorn) predicted death, destruction and disease unless we did exactly as progressives commanded.

Behold the coming apocalypse as predicted on and around Earth Day, 1970:

"Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind."  — Harvard biologist George Wald

"We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation." — Washington University biologist Barry Commoner

"Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction." — New York Times editorial

"Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years." — Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich

"Most of the people who are going to die in the greatest cataclysm in the history of man have already been born… [By 1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s." — Paul Ehrlich

"It is already too late to avoid mass starvation," — Denis Hayes, Chief organizer for Earth Day

"Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions…. By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine." — North Texas State University professor Peter Gunter

"In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution… by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half." — Life magazine

"At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it's only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable." — Ecologist Kenneth Watt

"Air pollution...is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone." — Paul Ehrlich

"By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate… that there won't be any more crude oil. You'll drive up to the pump and say, ‘Fill 'er up, buddy,' and he'll say, ‘I am very sorry, there isn't any.'" — Ecologist Kenneth Watt

"[One] theory assumes that the earth's cloud cover will continue to thicken as more dust, fumes, and water vapor are belched into the atmosphere by industrial smokestacks and jet planes. Screened from the sun's heat, the planet will cool, the water vapor will fall and freeze, and a new Ice Age will be born." — Newsweek magazine

"The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age." — Kenneth Watt
Quotes from "Earth Day, Then and Now," by Ronald Bailey, Reason.com. May 1, 2000.

BAM MARKET WRAP

LONG AWAITED CORRECTION?

IRS NOW WATCHING YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE AND TWEETS!

The IRS is watching you...

A PUNCH IN THE GUT

This morning's job report caught many off guard.  While the expectation was job creation of somewhere in the 200,000 range, the actual number came in at a paltry 88,000.  The futures market immediately took note and dropped a full percentage point on all of the major indices within 60 seconds of the release.   Looking beyond the headline numbers, it is hard to find any silver linings.  The labor participation rate (those actually in the work force) dropped to its lowest level since 1979 and there are now a record 90 million Americans that are no longer even looking for work.  The labor participation rate comes in at 63%.   The increase in the number of people leaving the work force actually served to reduce the headline unemployment rate illustrating how irrelevant this number has become.  It should also be noted that retail lost jobs while professional services gained jobs in line with previous months.  The lost retail jobs have nothing to do with sequestration and have everything to do with the increase in payroll taxes and consumers having less to spend.  Job losses having to do with sequestration will primarily hit the government jobs and the private sector professional service jobs.  Those potential job losses will begin to show up in months to come.  The numbers do not bode well for future reports. 

Where does this leave us?  It will be interesting to see where the market closes today and where it is after Monday's close.  Often the knee jerk reaction of the market is reversed within a day or two so we shall see.  If there was a shock needed to get those thinking about selling to sell, today's release is as good a reason as we have had in a while.  Alternatively, many had come to believe that the Fed was beginning to think about scaling back their asset purchases (taking away one of the biggest drivers of the market increase over the last 4 years).  However, today's numbers throw cold water on any thoughts that the Fed will be done any time soon.  Perhaps traders would rather have an accommodating Federal Reserve than a growing and vibrant economy.  We shall see.  Earnings start coming with Alcoa's release next week so traders will have much to digest over the next few weeks.  As our recent newsletters have pointed out, the last three years have started much the same with large gains in the first quarter and large corrections in the second quarter.  Are we getting ready to see a repeat of the last few years?  Time will tell.