If you're in IT, you should be keeping a watchful eye on the housing market, according to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. The downturn in the housing market is a bellweather for spending in the overall economy, and if it persists, the recessionary fallout could land squarely in the lap of ... you guessed it... IT.

Greenspan pegged the chances of recession at better than one-in-three, which is up somewhat from his one-third prediction earlier in 2007. Some industry analysts have already put IT growth on the watchlist. Currently, the General Services Administration projects 25-percent annual growth for governmental, state and local IT spending through at least 2012, however the 2001-02 "dot-bomb" economic bust is still on the minds of many in IT.

Continued drops in housing prices along with the ongoing trouble in the sub-prime mortgage lending arena may shorten the average 12-year cycle of economic growth and decline by as much as half. If that happens, analysts may modify the projected growth for IT purchases.