Editing Gary North (economist) (section)

===Y2K===
North was also a prominent promoter of exaggerated predictions of computer failure from the [[Year 2000 problem]] (Y2K) during the late 1990s,<ref>{{cite news | last=Penenberg | first=Adam L. | date=1 May 1998 |title=Year 2000 survivalists | work=Forbes.com | url=https://www.forbes.com/1998/05/01/feat.html | access-date=1 February 2024 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011223101002/https://www.forbes.com/1998/05/01/feat.html | archive-date=23 December 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last=Drake | first=Richard | date=5 April 2012 | title=The doomsday seekers: A look at Christian Reconstructionism | work=Arkansas Times | url=https://arktimes.com/street-jazz/2012/04/05/the-doomsday-seekers-a-look-at-christian-reconstructionism <!-- http://www.arktimes.com/StreetJazz/archives/2012/04/04/the-doomsday-seekers-a-look-at-christian-reconstructionism --> | access-date=1 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Seltzer | first=Larry | date=January 3, 2005 | title=Some Perspective 5 Years After Y2K | magazine=eWeek | url=https://www.eweek.com/security/some-perspective-5-years-after-y2k/ <!-- https://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Some-Perspective-5-Years-After-Y2K http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Some-Perspective-5-Years-After-Y2K%22Some --> | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201173121/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eweek.com%2Fsecurity%2Fsome%2Dperspective%2D5%2Dyears%2Dafter%2Dy2k%2F | archive-date=February 1, 2024 <!-- Date is correct. This is an archive of an archive. -->}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Glasner  | first=Joanna | date=5 January 2000 | title=Y2K Alarmist: Wha' Happened? | magazine=Wired | url=https://www.wired.com/2000/01/y2k-alarmist-wha-happened/ <!-- http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2000/01/33445 -->| access-date=1 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last=Rosin | first=Hanna | date=8 January 2000 | title=Recriminations pour in against prophets of Y2K doom: Followers demand apologies for their wasted effort, money | work=SFGate | publisher=Hearst Communications | url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Recriminations-Pour-in-Against-Prophets-of-Y2K-2785319.php | access-date=1 February 2024}}</ref> earning him the nickname "Scary Gary."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ChNAwAAQBAJ&q=Scary+Gary+Y2K%22Apocalyptic&pg=PA155|title=Apocalyptic Fever|isbn=978-1-61097-697-8|last1=Kyle|first1=Richard G.|date=August 2012|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers }}</ref> His main website became dominated by links to extremist predictions for Y2K damage, including widespread collapse of governments and financial institutions. North declared on his home page that Y2K "may be the biggest problem that the modern world has ever faced" and labeled 2000 as "The Year the Earth Stands Still".<ref>{{cite web | last=North | first=Gary | title=The year 2000 problem: The year the Earth stands still | website=Gary North's Y2K Links and Forums | url=http://www.garynorth.com/ | url-status=deviated | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981202233625/http://www.garynorth.com/ | archive-date=1998-12-02}} Alternate archive/site mirror from 1997 available at http://y2klibrary.tripod.com</ref>

Critics said the motivation for North's predictions was linked to his Christian reconstructionist aims, which require widespread [[societal collapse]] to set the stage for a new theocratic order. North made the connection explicit in communications with fellow reconstructionists: "The Y2K crisis is systemic. It cannot possibly be fixed. I think it will wipe out every national government in the West. Not just modify them—destroy them...That is what I have wanted all my adult life. In my view, Y2K is our deliverance."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=up5fnY7Wp1wC|title=New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America|isbn=978-0-918954-92-3|last1=Davis|first1=Derek|last2=Hankins|first2=Barry|year=2003|publisher=Baylor University Press }}</ref>