NYSE chief not optimistic about economy

T he chairman of the New York Stock Exchange Group yesterday told a gathering of the Long Island Association that he is "not yet optimistic" about the U.S. economy and it may take "18 months to two years" before it returns to a robust state.

Marshall N. Carter, who is also deputy chairman of NYSE Euronext, the NYSE's parent company, said the European debt crisis, the growing economic threat posed by China, and the failure of the U.S. Congress to resolve a host of financial and other issues has led him to believe the economy will continue to struggle. Carter spoke before the LIA's final executive breakfast meeting of the year at the organization's headquarters in Melville.

"We still have a way to go before returning to the robust economy we've had for 25 years," said Carter, a former chief executive of State Street Bank and Trust Co.

Carter placed particular blame on policy makers in Washington. "The failure of Congress to put the country above its own interests is unbelievable," he said. Of growing concern, he said, are China's economic strength and Europe's debt crisis, both of which could further slow or even destabilize a full U.S. recovery from the recession.

The LIA audience was not shy about asking the tough questions. Perennial questioner Ernie Fazio, chairman of Long Island Mid-Suffolk Business Action, kicked them off by stating that "capital markets have not served us well and have not been honest," and asked Carter why "no bankers have been prosecuted?"

"I've been as disappointed as any of you with the [bank] leadership," Carter said. "I would have thought one bank leader would have stood up and said, 'We have a big problem.' "

In answer to a question by LIA president Kevin Law, Carter said the Big Board will remain a people operation, unlike other exchanges that have gone exclusively to electronic trading. "We think human judgments are better than those made by machines," Carter said.