"The massive contraction in demand caused by this 'wealth effect' will condemn the western economy to a decade-long depression," Harrison tells the Foreign Press Association in London."

Harrison criticised policies for rescuing the European and US banks. "Gordon Brown thinks he's leading the world to the 'promised land,'" declared Harrison. His books, published in 1997 and 2005, spelt out the timetable for the crisis. "Other governments have now copied the British prime minister's bank bail-out plan. But his leadership is a disaster - he is the one person in the world who could have headed off this catastrophe but refused to act."

Harrison alerted Brown to the crisis of 2008 when he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1997. Brown failed to introduce the reforms that would have ensured economic stability.

"Brown blames America for the global crisis. But every country in the world permitted property speculation, which is at the heart of boom/busts. Brown now defends himself by claiming that he tried to get global agreement on a stabilisation plan. But he failed to tell the other governments about the tax reforms that could have prevented the crisis."

Harrison predicted the recession of 1992 and the current crisis - in each case, a full decade before they happened. "Tougher regulation of the banks will not prevent the arrested growth of the next 10 years," claims Harrison.

He calculated the wealth wipe-out by using conservative assumptions.

Fred Harrison's predictions earned him the epithet 'Prophet of Doom' until his forecasts proved correct. He is now described as "the canary in the housing mine...(his) prediction is chilling: Nostradamus...could scarcely have been more accurate" (Spectator Business, October 2nd 2008).

Harrison warns: "It will not be business as usual, as entrepreneurs and corporations discover that the West is now losing more of its competitive edge. Political tensions arising from the ascendancy of cash-rich Asian countries will also have serious economic consequences. Strategic planning is needed, but that thinking is not happening."