Worst Depression Since 1776 Bottoms Out at the End of 1992
Quake Forecaster Iben Browning Adds a World Depression to His Calendar; the US Gets a Ten-Year Expansion
Weeks before his New Madrid earthquake date, the climatologist told St. Louis executives tidal forces pointed to the most severe depression since 1776.
What was said
“For climatological reasons, we will reach the bottom of the depression about the end of 1992. . . . I expect (it) will be the most severe since 1776, more severe than the 1930s”
— Iben Browning (climatologist and business consultant, Sandia Park, New Mexico) · said Nov 15, 1990 · due About the end of 1992
No depression. The NBER dates the US recession of that period from July 1990 to March 1991, followed by an expansion that ran to March 2001.
The Story
Said 'during a presentation Thursday to a St. Louis business group' (AP). Browning was already famous for giving a 50-50 chance of a magnitude 7 earthquake on the New Madrid fault around December 3, 1990. AP also reported him saying high tidal forces had affected 'the rise of Nazism before World War II'.
As of Oct 9, 2026
since it didn't happen
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