CES Pres: "2009 will be 3rd Largest Ever"

"Our industry is the one that this going to get the economy through this recession." Such is the optimism of Gary Shapiro, CES CEO. While most economists say we haven't seen an economic climate this bad since the 1930's, Shapiro is brazen about his prediction.

In an interview on Dec. 31 with The Wall Street Journal Digits blog (formerly Business Technology blog), Shapiro explains why he's so optimistic.

Innovation creates investments. Innovation creates new jobs and new ways of doing things. There is a lot of innovation still yet to come. It (the downturn) is disruptive in the short term, because it causes some business to win and some to fail.

When I first started out, a travel agent booked my travel. Now I don’t think too many people use travel agents any more, and there were a lot fewer of them. A lot of things we just use the Internet for.

When I started out, the issue was whether the VCR was going to destroy Hollywood, and obviously it didn’t.

The real cool thing about this CES is it is in a time when Americans have voted for change. They voted for a digital president.

Our industry’s message has always been about change, and openness to new ideas. The incoming Obama administration’s vision is very consistent with our theme.

It's a good argument except for the fact that if people don't buy the innovation you're selling -- because they don't have jobs or being extremely cost conscious -- it makes it hard for an industry to extricate the rest of the economy out of a recession. But, I'm all for hoping for the best.

He says this year square footage sold is down by 6 or 7%, but with over 130,000 people expected to attend, it will still be the third largest in history.

That's certainly a nice indicator.