The perils of foresight

I have just been browsing the MEI archives, and came across this news item from February 12th, 2004:

"The strongest message to come out of February's African Mining Indaba '04 meeting in Cape Town was from international financier Robert M. Friedland, founder, chairman and President of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd, Canada.
China is now driving the world's economy, and is the world's largest producer of steel, despite being a net importer! Its insatiable demand for copper, nickel, platinum, gold and other metals is, according to Mr. Friedland, creating an unprecedented growth in the minerals industry, which should last for decades. This is not just a bubble, but a reality!"

I suppose the moral of this is, don't try to predict even the short term future!