Yeah, there is: that's what makes for all those surprises :)

If you have the time and inclination, try gazing through this period piece: The People's Almanac Presents The Book of Predictions It's one of those books that you can buy for less than a buck + shipping at Amazon.

I did so myself, and had my eyes opened by the confluence of genuine experts making predictions that in retrospect were wildly wrong. Case in point: with one exception none of those experts forecast the fall of the Soviet Union. The only one to do so was a Catholic priest! (He had been stationed in Eastern Europe). And even he forecast that the U.S.S.R would turn into a social democracy like 1970s-era Sweden.

It was sobering.