If he is right, Steve Forbes' prediction that oil prices will plunge to $30 to $35 per barrel within the next year would be a relief to motorists paying record-high gasoline prices.
Forbes, editor in chief of the magazine that bears his family name, made his prediction Monday during a keynote speech to corporate executives at Scottsdale's James Hotel.
About 30 executives attended the second annual Forbes Scottsdale Corporate Golf Invitational, sponsored by the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau and Forbes magazine.
Last year's event enticed executives to book more than $312,000 worth of business meetings in Scottsdale; another $360,000 is pending, said Laura McMurchie, bureau vice president of communications.
Forbes said recent oil prices of more than $50 per barrel are the result of speculators.
Forbes discussed oil prices, Starbucks lattes, his flat-tax proposal and rescuing Social Security with personal retirement accounts.
Though other analysts disagree, the magazine publisher said there would be no change in benefits for those 50 and older, and that younger workers, particularly in their 20s and 30s, could benefit with higher returns for their retirement accounts.
If nothing else, he suggested giving workers a choice between the current system or personal retirement accounts.
Forbes also suggested the skeptics of his flat-tax proposal be given the choice of the current Byzantine tax code or his simple system of one tax rate at 17 percent with a one-page tax return.
In any case, Forbes said he hopes for sweeping changes in July when the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform issues its report.
"You don't have to go to the Amazon to see exotic creatures, it's in the tax code," he joked.
For example, Starbucks got a tax break for being a manufacturer because the java giant crushes coffee beans, Forbes said.