A trends forecaster says the current economic "rebound" from last winter's Wall Street collapse of banks, insurance companies and automobile manufacturers is an artificial blip created by 'phantom money printed out of thin air backed by nothing." 

And Gerald Celente of TrendsResearch.com, says people right now should be bracing for "the greatest recession" which will hit worldwide and will mark the "decline of empire America." Crop failures could be among the minor concerns. 

"Here we are in 2012. Food riots, tax protests, farmer rebellions, student revolts, squatter diggins, homeless uprisings, tent cities, ghost malls, general strikes, bossnappings, kidnappings, industrial saboteurs, gang warfare, mob rule, terror," he writes for a quarterly publication that is available through subscription on his website. 

The recent surge in Wall Street indexes back to near the 10,000 level, still far below the 14,000 prior to the crash, should be no reassurance for anyone, he said. 

"There's no recovery. This is merely a cover-up," he said. "The market crashed in March of 2009 and around the world they papered over the damage from the collapse with phantom money printed out of thin air backed by nothing," he said. 

This is "much bigger" than an economic collapse, he said. "This is the decline of empire America." 

"Look what's happened to the dollar," he warned. "Gold prices are surging forward. That's the evidence. The rest that's coming from Washington and Wall Street is rhetoric." 

"This is the beginning of the greatest depression. We're telling our readers to take pro-active measures in anticipation of much worse to come," he said. 

USA Today says Celente "has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right," and CNBC says, "The man knows what he's talking about." 

The Wall Street Jounral has said, "Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute." 

He said during the Radio America/WND interview that retail sales this coming Christmas season will be the "real nail in the economic coffin." 

"The second American revolution has already begun; it just hasn't been announced yet by the mainstream media," he said. "Anybody waiting for hope to show up at the door with a big bag full of money is going to be in for a shock." 

Tim Barello in the Examiner noted that since 1980 Celente has made at least 40 accurate predictions about major world events, such as the 1987 stock market crash. 

"Throughout the 1990's, many other forecasts came true, including the collapse of the Soviet Union, surges in global terrorism, the popularity of spiritual and new age philosophies, public backlash against globalization, upsurges in online shopping, and the 1997 Asian financial crisis, to name a select few," he wrote. 

Now comes his forecast for a global depression and for the United States, "Obamageddon." 

"We want to make it very clear that the policies leading to the decline of 'Empire America' have been long in the making," Celente told Barello. "What has happened in the Obama administration is that they have taken policies far beyond even what Bush took with the TARP program; for example, with his stimulus package, with the buyouts, with the bailouts, the rescue packages, these are unprecedented in American history. 

"Never before has so much phantom money been printed out of thin air, backed by nothing, producing practically nothing," Celente continued. "You don't even have to be a student of history to know the outcome of this. All you have to do is have your eyes open, and start thinking for yourself." 

In his conversation with the Examiner, Celente warned with the "bubble" bursts, U.S. taxpayers will be slammed because, unlike during the dot-com bubble, the stock market bubble and the real estate bubble, they are stockholders in a long list of major companies. 

He forecasts the possibility of a civil war, and says if people want to see what Main Street America will look like, they should drive around Detroit. Look at all the blown out houses and empty neighborhoods. Look at the violence that's increasing.