It happened to the U.S.S.R., it can happen to the U.S.A.

As detailbear can attest to, I have making this same prediction for a decade now myself. It's one of the reasons I won't move back to the Red States.

From RIA Novosti, the Russian Press Agency:

Russian analyst predicts decline and breakup of U.S.

MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.

Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily Izvestia published on Monday: "The dollar is not secured by anything. The country's foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse."

( Read more Russian prognosticating )

2006-07: Pundits scoffing at predictions of economic meltdown

This is video quite amusing to watch:

Peter Shiff is apparently someone to pay attention to on economic matters, because he got it right. He appears to be a real analyst, not a cheerleader, unlike so many of the talking heads on TV.

Ben Stein comes off looking particularly bad in hindsight, especially when he goes all bullish on Merrill Lynch. And Charles Payne's prediction that WaMu will be the stock to have in 2008 is a real laugh.

( Ganked from BoingBoing )