Sylvia Browne on the 2008 economy

On December 31, 2007 Sylvia Browne said:



Transcript of this segment:

DATE: December 31, 2007 Monday
SHOW: THE MONTEL WILLIAMS SHOW 12:00 AM EST
TITLE: 2008 PREDICTIONS WITH SYLVIA BROWNE
ANCHORS: MONTEL WILLIAMS
LENGTH: 9577 words
...
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST): How many people would say that this was the worst year they've had in a long time, financially? Raise your hand. Take a look at that. Wait. But look at the audience. Everybody look around for a second, 'cause you're not alone. We all had some issues last year. Right? So Sylvia, what's going on? The credit card interest rates, the house rates, (makes noise) rates, everybody.

SYLVIA BROWNE: You know, I put these out in October, and before I put them out, some of the things have happened, like lowering interest rates. And I said the banks were gonna come in and give people help on foreclosures, and they are.

WILLIAMS: So is the housing market gonna now get stronger?

BROWNE: Yeah. It will.

WILLIAMS: All right.

BROWNE: It certainly will. And the problem is, is some of these moguls will come in and buy up all the, you know, the foreclosures, and they'll get richer.

WILLIAMS: Okay. Now, how about the job market, because the job market is in a slump.

BROWNE: The job market's awful. But it gets better. Ford, which is good for Michigan, 'cause you know, Michigan went flat like Silicon Valley did, is because they're gonna start these new hybrids. So that's gonna bring up the, you know, the automotive industry.

WILLIAMS: How about this? How about, ooh, the stock market? Come on with it. Is it gonna be good, bad, what?

BROWNE: Oh, please. It's just--it's like a roller coaster. I think that if you're gonna deal in stock, I would look at medical stock, but I wouldn't do anything unless you research it, because it's just in a terrible mess. I mean, up one day, down the next. Up, down. Up, down. You can lose, gain. I mean, you'd be better off rolling the dice.

WILLIAMS: That--the lady that asked about that, don't do that.

BROWNE: Don't do that.

LAUGHTER

WILLIAMS: She was talking about other people, not you and your husband.

BROWNE: That's right.

WILLIAMS: Well, now how about the auto industry? Because now, you know, that really is one of those benchmarks and a lot of people look at it...

BROWNE: Yes, houses and cars.

WILLIAMS: Houses and cars. If cars are not doing well, then the economy is not doing well. And like housing, and the car market hasn't been doing that great.

BROWNE: No. And that's why I think we're going to go green. We're gonna go hybrid. And I think...

WILLIAMS: This coming year?

BROWNE: Yeah.

WILLIAMS: More hybrid cars?

BROWNE: Yeah, more hybrid.

WILLIAMS: All right. Okay. Yes, ma'am, you had a question for Sylvia. Go right ahead.
...

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The housing market did not get better, but the subprime mortgage crisis has caused an on-going housing/mortage crisis.

As for "predicting" more hybrids, that doesn't seem like a prediction since the rising cost of gas makes it necessary. Likewise, "lower" interest rates is very vague. Expect it to happen over the course of a year.

Message to Sylvia Browne...



What a stupid twat. I really dislike her and her douchebaggy ilk.

Is there a list anywhere of the list of failed predictions that Browne made for 2008?

MattusMaximus said:

Message to Sylvia Browne...

[qimg]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/thum_774748eecf6cb2422.jpg[/qimg]

What a stupid twat. I really dislike her and her douchebaggy ilk.

Is there a list anywhere of the list of failed predictions that Browne made for 2008?

Click to expand...

Lets just start a list of predictions she actually made (as opposed to one of those predictions she reminds us of at a later time that she never actually made) that were not excessively general and actually came true. It would save us lots of time and typing.

Sounds like that'll be a pretty damn short list.

Sylvia Browne: "... you'd be better off rolling the dice."

GreyICE said:

Lets just start a list of predictions she actually made (as opposed to one of those predictions she reminds us of at a later time that she never actually made) that were not excessively general and actually came true. It would save us lots of time and typing.

Click to expand...

Ok, I went ahead and did it. Here you go:

FramerDave said:

Ok, I went ahead and did it. Here you go:

Click to expand...

On the basis of the fact that anyone who writes enough crap will be right every now and then, she must occasionally be right. Hell, if I wrote down a list of 500 things I thought would come true in 2009 (specific, not general things) I'm sure a good 10-20 of them would be true.

It's almost enough to convince me that Browne really does have supernatural powers. The opposite of many of her predictions are eerily accurate.

She's the anti-psychic!

Well, I might live in a bit more intellectual and politically focused area than much of the country, but I’m quite certain that a conversation around 12/31/07 with a janitor at my company, a regular at a local bar, a checkout person at the grocery store, a person walking down the street, etc. would have said the same things as Sylvia. I think it was just a reflection of popular opinion. Housing was strong (at least most people thought). Jobs were down but promising. Stocks were iffy. Hybrids were the new thing. I don’t thing she was saying anything that was not the popular opinion of pundits, papers, and people.

DevilsAdvocate said:

Well, I might live in a bit more intellectual and politically focused area than much of the country, but I’m quite certain that a conversation around 12/31/07 with a janitor at my company, a regular at a local bar, a checkout person at the grocery store, a person walking down the street, etc. would have said the same things as Sylvia. I think it was just a reflection of popular opinion. Housing was strong (at least most people thought). Jobs were down but promising. Stocks were iffy. Hybrids were the new thing. I don’t thing she was saying anything that was not the popular opinion of pundits, papers, and people.

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Well of course she wasn't. That's what 'psychics' do. They tell people what they want to hear.

Of course it's pretty much the opposite of what they CLAIM to be doing.

GreyICE said:

On the basis of the fact that anyone who writes enough crap will be right every now and then, she must occasionally be right. Hell, if I wrote down a list of 500 things I thought would come true in 2009 (specific, not general things) I'm sure a good 10-20 of them would be true.

Click to expand...

You may do quite a bit better if many of your predictions are just one side of a 50/50 proposition. The stock market will generally either go up or go down, pick one and you stand a pretty good chance of being right. Do this hundreds of times and you can compile a list of that can be filtered to show you have great prognosticating powers.

Earthborn said:

Sylvia Browne: "... you'd be better off rolling the dice."

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That's why they're asking you, Sylvia! You claim to be psychic. See, it's not so easy accurately predicting a random event, is it? Stupid b*tch.

Sylvia Browne is a dude.

RAmen.

Monza said:

You may do quite a bit better if many of your predictions are just one side of a 50/50 proposition. The stock market will generally either go up or go down, pick one and you stand a pretty good chance of being right. Do this hundreds of times and you can compile a list of that can be filtered to show you have great prognosticating powers.

Click to expand...

No, I'm talking about actual really specific stuff. Stuff like "in the month of July, there will be a brief recovery in the Dow, at least several hundred points. It won't be long term, but it will be a start of hope."

The sort of thing that actually sounds PSYCHIC if you don't realize I've written 500 of these damn things. Especially if we sort of squint and accept late June or early August or something.

That's how a lot of the cherry picked after the fact psychic stuff gets going.

2009 prediction:

Here's her latest 2009 prediction:

Psychic Sylvia Browne sees better days ahead
Updated: 03/26/09 08:29 AM
By Anne Neville, NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Buffalonews.com


Sylvia Browne’s voice is already hoarse, and her “Farewell Tour” is just kicking off with her appearance before a packed house Friday in the Seneca Niagara Events Center at the Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel.
...
Hard times, she says, “give us time to flex our spiritual muscles.” And for those whose muscles are showing the strain, she has a prediction: “I’m convinced by June we are going to see relief and at the end of the year we’re going to see a great amount of recovery.”
...

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Source

Specifics and details aren't her strong point.

MattusMaximus said:

She's the anti-psychic!

Click to expand...

Maybe one day Psychics will adopt this. Claiming that the info they have been receiving all this time is actually reversed; as if seen via a mirror. Now they have it all figured out, just go with the opposite of what they say (if that is right). But if their original perception was right, they happened to be "strong" enough in the psychic powers to overcome this. Like wearing special psychic contact lenses.

GreyICE said:

Lets just start a list of predictions she actually made (as opposed to one of those predictions she reminds us of at a later time that she never actually made) that were not excessively general and actually came true. It would save us lots of time and typing.

Click to expand...

Good idea. I'll start:

When I saw her in April 2007, an audience member asked her if she should buy a house and Sylvia Browne answered something to the effect of "Yes, because the housing market is going to be really good now".

It unfortunately didn't make it into the final episode, from what I remember.

Here's something from her predictions for December 2007, though (apologies if someone has already posted this):

MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
So is the housing market gonna now get stronger?
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
Yeah. It will.
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
All right.
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
It certainly will. And the problem is, is some of these moguls will come in and buy up all the, you know, the foreclosures, and they'll get richer.
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
Okay. Now, how about the job market, because the job market is in a slump.
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
The job market's awful. But it gets better. Ford, which is good for Michigan, 'cause you know, Michigan went flat like Silicon Valley did, is because they're gonna start these new hybrids. So that's gonna bring up the, you know, the automotive industry.
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
How about this? How about, ooh, the stock market? Come on with it. Is it gonna be good, bad, what?
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
Oh, please. It's just--it's like a roller coaster. I think that if you're gonna deal in stock, I would look at medical stock, but I wouldn't do anything unless you research it, because it's just in a terrible mess. I mean, up one day, down the next. Up, down. Up, down. You can lose, gain. I mean, you'd be better off rolling the dice.
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
That--the lady that asked about that, don't do that.
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
Don't do that.
LAUGHTER
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
She was talking about other people, not you and your husband.
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
That's right.
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
Well, now how about the auto industry? Because now, you know, that really is one of those benchmarks and a lot of people look at it...
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
Yes, houses and cars.
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
Houses and cars. If cars are not doing well, then the economy is not doing well. And like housing, and the car market hasn't been doing that great.
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
No. And that's why I think we're going to go green. We're gonna go hybrid. And I think...
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
This coming year?
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
Yeah.
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
More hybrid cars?
SYLVIA BROWNE (BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC)
Yeah, more hybrid.
MONTEL WILLIAMS (HOST)
All right. Okay. Yes, ma'am, you had a question for Sylvia. Go right ahead.

... so Sylvia, would you consider this a good year for people to go into the psychic business? Plenty of jobless out there. What kind of training is needed to do what you do? Could I do it? :|