Greenspan Says U.S. Housing Crisis May Stretch Into Next Year
By Anthony Massucci
May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. housing recession may last until next year.
“The housing crisis that we have today is going to be at least until the end of the year, if not next year, before it gets rectified,” Greenspan told the Alternative Public Strategies Conference in New York today, said Joseph Meuse, founder of Belmont Partners LLC, which sponsored the event. Belmont Partners is a Washington, Virginia-based financial consulting company that advises on reverse mergers.
Greenspan, who has returned to consulting since he retired from the central bank in January 2006, also said inflation is likely to accelerate, according to Meuse.
Greenspan couldn't immediately be reached for comment, according to Lisa Panasiti, his spokeswoman in Washington.
“He talked about the long-term inflation rate being more at 4 or 5 percent,” Meuse said after the event. Consumer prices in the U.S. rose 4 percent in March from a year ago, up from a 2.8 percent pace in the same month of 2007.
The former Fed chairman also told the audience that the worst of the credit crisis is now over, Reuters reported, citing attendees at the conference.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anthony Massucci in New York at amasssucc@bloomberg.net
Thursday 8th of May 2008