{"id":89266,"date":"2021-03-19T22:20:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T22:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blenheimpartners.com\/?p=89266"},"modified":"2023-04-25T23:54:45","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T23:54:45","slug":"smith-blows-trumps-trumpet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blenheimpartners.com\/smith-blows-trumps-trumpet\/","title":{"rendered":"Smith Blows Trump\u2019s Trumpet"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row row_height_percent=”0″ override_padding=”yes” h_padding=”2″ top_padding=”3″ bottom_padding=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ gutter_size=”3″ column_width_percent=”100″ shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″][vc_column column_width_use_pixel=”yes” gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ column_width_pixel=”800″][vc_single_image media=”89226″ media_width_percent=”100″ css_animation=”bottom-t-top” animation_delay=”100″][vc_column_text css_animation=”bottom-t-top” animation_delay=”200″]The Australian
\nFebruary 1, 2019<\/p>\n

Former ANZ chief executive Mike Smith has slammed Brexit as a \u201ccomplete and utter disaster\u201d for Britain while praising Donald Trump for \u201cputting a firecracker\u201d under the US economy.<\/p>\n

British-born Mr Smith, who ran ANZ from 2007 to 2015 and implemented its controversial super-regional strategy, lamented the lack of vision among the nation\u2019s politicians, contrasting Australia\u2019s tax-and-spend policies with a simple lesson in economics delivered by President Trump \u2014 the extraordinary power of tax cuts and accelerated depreciation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of investment created has led to probably the biggest growth in jobs in US history,\u201d he said in a podcast hosted by the executive search firm Blenheim Partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou listen to our politicians talking about increased government spending and tax and wondering why the economy slows and job creation isn\u2019t there. Well, hello? Look what you can do with very simple economics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Smith was sanguine about the trade war between China and the US, saying that China was a pragmatic nation and would do what it could to close a deal.<\/p>\n

President Trump, on the other hand, had a very different national agenda, and what he said and did were often \u201cslightly different things\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump is a difficult one to read,\u201d the former banker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s what keeps him in office, almost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since leaving ANZ, Mr Smith has embraced the fintech sector and innovation, becoming chairman of the business incubator YBF Ventures.<\/p>\n

His successor at ANZ, Shayne Elliott, has partly dismantled his former boss\u2019s legacy, retreating from some of the region\u2019s markets and shrinking the balance sheet in pursuit of higher returns.<\/p>\n

Mr Smith was highly critical of the short-term investment horizon of analysts and fund managers, whose idea of long-term extended as far as \u201cnext Thursday\u201d.<\/p>\n

A meaningful Asian strategy, he said, was never going to be realised in 5, 10 or even 15 years.<\/p>\n

With the market now effectively dictating the strategies of the major banks, it was inevitable that they would converge.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will get stagnated growth and lower returns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe media is very much to blame for this because they like to quote these analysts who have never done anything themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, they whack you around \u2014 you have to have a thick skin and fortunately I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he had a regret from his eight-year period as ANZ CEO, it was a failure to anticipate that regulation would change so rapidly, particularly the \u201cobsession\u201d with more capital when it was always liquidity shortages that caused bank failures.<\/p>\n

The complexity of regulation became the issue for ANZ, and it would be difficult to rush back into Asia. In any event, it was now someone else\u2019s turn \u2014 Mr Elliott \u2014 to \u201crun the train set\u201d.<\/p>\n

As for Brexit, opportunities loomed for Australia but not for Britain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe (British) government is completely stuck in terms of being able to do anything, and the whole process of government has come to a grinding halt,\u201d Mr Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re trying to create a Brexit deal on the run but they\u2019re dealing with Europe, which rather than being facilitative and thinking that the UK is actually the second-biggest economy in the EU, is putting its head in the sand and being difficult, possibly for historical reasons and old prejudices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a complete and utter disaster. I get some of the nationalist feeling, and I get some of the wanton waste that the EU has created and some of the stupid regulation. But it\u2019s much easier to change things when you\u2019re inside the tent instead of outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article by Richard Gluyas<\/a>, Business Correspondent<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.theaustralian.com.au\/business\/smith-blows-trumps-trumpet\/news-story\/90f66e3f277ee4cb62ea0f7df9539952?memtype=anonymous<\/a><\/p>\n

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Former ANZ chief executive Mike Smith has slammed Brexit as a \u201ccomplete and utter disaster\u201d for Britain while praising Donald Trump for \u201cputting a firecracker\u201d under the US economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSmith Blows Trump\u2019s Trumpet - Blenheim Partners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former ANZ chief executive Mike Smith has slammed Brexit as a \u201ccomplete and utter disaster\u201d for Britain while praising Donald Trump for \u201cputting a firecracker\u201d under the US economy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blenheimpartners.com\/smith-blows-trumps-trumpet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smith Blows Trump\u2019s Trumpet - 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