Lloyd Blankfein: The Financial and ‘Economic Conditions ... Not as Bad as the Politics Would Suggest’

EXCERPT:

BLANKFEIN: "Joe, it -- it may not be the best economy we’ve had for a long time, but it’s pretty good. If you were transported down here, if you were frozen in an iceberg for four years and you knew — and you woke up, came out, thawed and you saw an economy that’s at full employment, low energy prices, basically balance sheets have been cured, a lot of cash, again, low rates, you’d think — and again, people may not like the job they have in every case, but they never do. And so we’re here at kind of full employment situation now. I’d say it’s pretty good. I’d say the political environment is very bad. And when you’re dealing with the economy, it’s not — it’s not just science, you’re dealing also with sentiment so of course there’s an interaction between the politics and the economy because at the end of the day economy requires confidence. And so it could be better. And there’s some frustration about the fact that it could be better. But really, Joe, financial conditions and economic conditions are really not as bad as the politics would suggest."