Ron Paul: 'I am the only one who predicted the economic meltdown'

(GoinsReport.com) -- While issuing a response to the Congressional Budget Office's latest report, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) also took time to tout his clairvoyance on the economic crisis.

"Of the five men seeking the presidency in the major parties – President Obama, Governor Romney, Speaker Gingrich, Senator Santorum, and myself – I am the only one who predicted the economic meltdown," Paul said.

He continued: "and the only one who has proposed a serious plan to balance the budget, reduce taxes, and create jobs."

On the House Floor on September 6, 2001, Ron Paul, speaking on the expansion of credit into the housing market, said the following: "Instead of the newly inflated money being directed toward the stock market, it now finds its way into the rapidly expanding real-estate bubble."

"This, too, will burst as all bubbles do," Paul continued. "The Fed, the Congress, or even foreign investors can't prevent the collapse of this bubble, any more than the incestuous Japanese banks were able to keep the Japanese "miracle" of the 1980s going forever."

In mid-2006, the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to discourage inflation. By first quarter 2007, subprime foreclosures were becoming more frequent. The housing bubble had burst.

To read the rest of Ron Paul's speech, "The US Dollar and the World Economy," given on the House floor, click here.

Read the rest of the statement on the CBO report here.