Apple CEO Tim Cook should consider becoming a financial consultant, if this iPhone thing fizzles out. Apparently, he is on speed-dial for both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. U.S. President Barack Obama called Cook seeking comment on the looming “fiscal cliff” crisis, according to Monday reports. Although it’s not known what advice the Apple leader gave Obama, Cook was among a number of CEOs the White House contacted. Other business leaders included JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Jim McNerney of Boeing and Craig Jelinek of Costco…
The phone calls are part of “outreach on the need to find a balanced deficit-reduction solution that protects the middle class and continues to move our economy forward”, a White House official told CNN Sunday.
The talks are just the latest round of discussions Washington has had with private business leaders about the fiscal debate facing both the White House and Congressional leaders. If a political decision is not reached by December 31, a number of automatic cuts in spending will take place, including the end of tax cuts for businesses.
Cook apparently has become the go-to guy for federal politicians seeking to take the pulse of the business community. Earlier this year, the Apple leader talked with Republican John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Boehner is Obama’s counterpart on Capitol Hill, the Republican face for the President’s opposition.
It makes perfect sense that Cook becomes the unofficial representative for private business. Not only has Apple been named the most valuable corporation on the planet, but the CEO is largely credited with instituting a tight supply chain and cost-savings which would be the envy of Washington.
But perhaps the best reason for Obama to chat-up Cook: Â the leader of the free world is now an iPhone fan. After years of being an inveterate BlackBerry user, the President now carries the Apple smartphone and an iPad tablet.
What do you think?
What advice can Cook offer that would get Washington politicians out of the current financial mess?