Cyrillic Partners

Greenspan told a group of Brazilian business men that the global economy will acclimate to higher oil prices by consuming less oil. (One has to wonder how much the former Fed chairman made for that speaking engagement!) “The sooner we get the higher prices, the quicker the world economy will accommodate,” Greenspan said, according to a Bloomberg report. “They can be a remedy for high oil consumption, which can result in less and less dependence.”

Yep, supply and demand. That’s how it works. (Kudos, Lolfed for the pic.) Greenspan re-iterated his prediction that the U.S. faced a 50-50 chance of recession–over an unspecified period of time. (safe bet!)

The man did say something interesting though: “The ethanol thing is real.” Ethanol may, at some point, either replace or supplement gasoline as a renewable fuel for automobiles. He did say, however that the efforts of the U.S. government to encourage of corn-based fuels is a “mistake.” The reason? It drives up food prices. Brazil is a major ethanol producer, deriving the substance primarily from sugar cane.

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