Dr. Alan Greenspan Speaks at CERAWeek 2008 on Recession, Credit Markets, Oil Prices,...

Dr. Alan Greenspan Speaks at CERAWeek 2008 on Recession, Credit Markets, Oil Prices, Nuclear Power, Cap & Trade

Nearly 2,000 Attend CERA's 27th Annual Energy Conference
HOUSTON--(Business Wire)--
From the risk of recession to market bubbles, and from oil prices
to nuclear power, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan
shared his economic outlook in a wide-ranging conversation last night
with Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) Chairman Daniel
Yergin and an audience of 900 who filled the Westin Galleria ballroom
at CERAWeek 2008.

"I think we are clearly on the edge," of recession, Greenspan
said, placing the odds at "50 percent or better," but noting that
because "business was in such extraordinary good shape before this
problem hit," the unavailability of credit hasn't yet become a major
problem for American business. "We are at stall speed in the United
States, but haven't yet seen the discontinuity that characterizes
recession."

"The break in the credit cycle began with the huge surge in
sub-prime mortgage originations" which accounted for 20 percent of
home sales in 2005 and 2006, and turned into a market bubble with
capital gains being used to finance much consumer spending, according
to Greenspan. Now, with the capital gains turning negative and the
value of sub-prime securities being marked down, the situation will
continue until U.S. housing prices stabilize. "We have a long way to
go" before that happens, he said.

Nearly 2,000 attendees participated in presentations and seminars
during the week-long CERAWeek 2008 event with many of them listening
as Greenspan and Yergin discussed lessons from Greenspan's
best-selling book "The Age of Turbulence."

Other major parts of the economic outlook reviewed by Greenspan
and Yergin included:

-- Oil prices - High oil prices are "a burden now," but it's
"quite remarkable" that the U.S. economy is able to do
reasonably well with oil prices near historic highs.
Displacing a significant part of the nine million barrels per
day of gasoline and 2 1/2 mbd of diesel fuel used on American
highways to electric "will have a large impact on world
petroleum demand."

-- Nuclear - Going forward "we are going to have to use nuclear
energy."

-- Climate Change - "Global warming is real, but its solution is
going to be much more difficult than we'd like to admit."

-- Cap on Carbon Emissions - "A mandatory cap on carbon emissions
risks capping energy inputs into GDP, lowering "production and
increasing unemployment."

-- Technology - "There's a presumption that we'll solve this
problem with new technologies. I wish that were true."

-- Economic Inequality - "I'm a strong advocate of competitive
market capitalism. It's the only viable system through which
societies can produce significant material well being.
However, with its increasing required conceptual inputs and
technology, income inequality has risen. We cannot have a
system, no matter how powerful, that doesn't have the support
of the people."

CERAWeek 2008 is the annual conference organized by CERA, an IHS
company (NYSE:IHS), for senior management, regulators, investors and
policy makers involved in all segments of the energy industry and
financial community. It was recently ranked as one of the top five
senior management conferences in the world.

About CERA (www.cera.com)

Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), an IHS company
(NYSE:IHS), is a leading advisor to energy companies, consumers,
financial institutions, technology providers, and governments. CERA
(www.cera.com) delivers strategic knowledge and independent analysis
on energy markets, geopolitics, industry trends, and strategy. CERA is
based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has offices in Beijing,
Calgary, Houston, Mexico City, Moscow, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, San
Francisco and Washington, D.C.

About IHS (www.ihs.com)

IHS (NYSE:IHS) is a leading global source of critical information
and insight for customers in a broad range of industries. Our customer
product and service solutions span four major areas of information:
energy, product lifecycle management, environmental and security. By
focusing on our customers first, we deliver data and expertise that
enable innovative and successful decision-making. Customers range from
governments and multinational companies to smaller companies and
technical professionals in more than 180 countries. IHS has been in
business since 1959 and employs more than 3,000 people in 35 locations
around the world.

(C) 2008, IHS is a registered trademark of IHS Inc. CERA is a
registered trademark of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, Inc. All
other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective
owners. Copyright (C) 2008 IHS Inc. All rights reserved.

CERA
Bethany Genier, +1-617-866-5000
bgenier@cera.com
or
IHS Media Desk, +1-303-305-8021
press@ihs.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008