Finance Lessons From a Curved World

in
• Corporate Finance
• Governance, Risk & Compliance
• The next president's first appointees will be crucial. While Smick is frequently asked which presidential candidate is better positioned to address the crisis and its aftermath as president, he says it's impossible to know -- until after the election.
He advises CFOs to closely monitor the initial appointments to key jobs the next president makes during his first several weeks on the job. "This will tell you whether they are serious about keeping the U.S. a big fat juicy target for global investment," Smick adds. "You can deny that we need global investment but until we deal with our imbalance, we're heavily dependent. Whether we get out of this current mess will determine whether we are open for business and want to keep the capital flowing."
As the failure of the initially proposed bailout plan demonstrated, public sentiment and politics will also play a key role in how quickly the U.S. recovers from the credit crisis. Whether or not the heated public sentiment about the financial regulatory structure will continue remains open to question, of course.
Just ask Smick. During his book promotional activities, one television program said thanks, but no thanks to him because they had decided to feature another book on the show during the heat of the financial crisis. The program felt that one book -- in this case Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness by Suzanne "Thigh Master" Somers -- was sufficient.
Smick takes the slight with a laugh; after all, he's also deeply interested in wellness -- of the global financial system.
by Eric Krell