Goldman Sachs chief: US politics ‘as negative as I’ve ever seen’

Blankfein says — jokingly — that there's a global Trump frenzy.

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein speaks with POLITICO's chief Europe correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig in Brussels on April 12, 2018 | POLITICO

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said political volatility is the new normal in the U.S.

In an interview with POLITICO in Brussels on Thursday, Goldman’s chief said the situation nowadays is peculiar because the “economy is pretty good and politics are as bitter and as negative as I’ve ever seen it.”

“One of the common slogans of the U.S. political scene is, it’s the economy stupid … it doesn’t feel like that now.”

Blankfein also underlined that he doesn’t “get hysterical at every pronouncement [made by U.S. President Donald Trump]” because there’s a difference between the rhetoric and what actually gets done.

But he added — jokingly — that there’s a global Trump frenzy. “I’m sure there are villages in the Amazon that don’t have electricity, never heard of a television, and everyday they are going home and are talking about what’s the latest out of Washington,” he said.

Blankfein suggested that the U.S. trend might be a global one: “The country has elected and wanted a disruptor, but look around the world … there seems to be a moment in time where in spite of the fact that economies are doing well, in the absence of a big problem or a catastrophe that’s galvanizing everybody, everyone is acting selfishly and independently.”

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