The world's richest banker, Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, thinks Australia's fretting about its economic circumstances is a bit of a laugh.

"I've been coming here for a long, long time and during the last two decades of growth, growth, growth, people are always distraught, overwrought, wringing their hands about how horrible things are and to my observation, they don't look that bad," Mr Blankfein told businesspeople in Sydney on Friday.

Mr Blankfein, boss of the bank Rolling Stone magazine famously called "a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity" following the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, spoke at a packed business breakfast about the state of the world as he saw it.

His talk ranged from encouraging signs of growth in the United States and Japan to concerns about the bruised confidence of corporate leaders in the heavily-scrutinised post-global financial crisis (GFC) environment.

Australia's vigour was not high on his list of concerns.

One questioner asked how Mr Blankfein saw Australia, given it was "in a phase where our economy is slowing" and "there's a malaise between business and government".

"No, it's awful - you've now sunk to a level that we're trying to get up to. So, my heart goes out to you," Mr Blankfein replied, demonstrating that humour and investment banking can share a stage.

Mr Blankfein's assessment follows recent statements from the federal opposition that Australia is facing a budget crisis, a budget emergency and a productivity crisis, and that the economy's triple-A credit rating is misleading.

The Goldman Sachs boss said investment confidence globally was at a low ebb but was rising.

Mr Blankfein said the US was recovering from the "big trauma" of the GFC but CEOs remained cautious because the consequences of making a mistake were "very, very high".

However, he said, confidence was lagging a material improvement.

"Housing which had been a burden on the economy has now turned around, the banks have been well-capitalised, a lot has been done," he said.

Companies with lots of cash on hand needed to start investing it or shareholders would ask for their capital to be returned, he warned.

Europe was "half a cycle behind the US", while Japan was "getting aboard the stimulus locomotive express and it's going about 300 miles an hour," said Mr Blankfein.

Mr Blankfein received a total salary of $US21 million ($A22.85 million) in 2012.