'We're Going to Have to Be Patient' About Obama's Economic Initiatives, Says NYX CEO

And Americans aren't good at being patient, NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer said at a Financial Executives Institute summit last week, as he called for the nation to give the administration's plan some time to work.

His comments were reported yesterday in the Fort Worth Business Press, as were those of some of the other participants, including: Chris Ballinger, CFO of Toyota Financial Services; Richard Lindner, senior executive vice president and CFO of AT&T Inc.; Patrick Mulva, vice president and controller of Exxon Mobil Corp.; and Laura Wright, senior vice president and CFO of Southwest Airlines Co.

An excerpt:

“Government intervention was necessary,” Niederauer said. “And we’re going to have to be patient. Americans aren’t good at that. But, we need to keep encouraging the Obama administration to overcommunicate the way he did during the campaign.”

Communication from the Obama administration is key to keeping the public, investors and key players in the finance and banking industries calm and informed about the government’s plans, he said.

But, in order to restore confidence in investors, consumer confidence will have to be restored first so people will be comfortable spending money on investments, he said.

“Right now people are worried about the roof over their head, about their family and whether they can support them; those are the three things they’re worried about,” Niederauer said.

Also:

Niederauer said his one criticism of Obama’s stimulus plan was that it isn’t geared enough toward small businesses, which he said have been the “economic engines” that have brought the United States out of all of its economic troubles. Small businesses are more likely to create jobs in a down economy than a large corporation, he said, and added in order to create jobs, small businesses need extra help right now.

Niederauer also went over his opinions on regulation efforts that may come out of the financial crisis, including any new regulations that may be geared toward companies dealing in credit default swaps and other exotic securities and financial instruments.

“If all we do is over-regulate, that’s going to be an unfortunate outcome,” he said.