“Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said a lack of U.S. business appetite for risk is constraining a recovery in the world’s largest economy.

“The “U.S. feels like it is recovering but I wouldn’t say that it is quite healthy yet,” Blankfein told a business group today in Sydney. “It is a very poor time to take risk and without risk taking there is less growth.”

“Economic growth in the U.S. will slow to 1.8 percent this year from the 2.2 percent expansion in 2012, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Mergers and acquisitions, while improved, haven’t fully recovered since the global financial crisis, said Blankfein, whose firm topped the world rankings for takeover advice in the first half of 2013.

“Deal transactions worldwide reached about $490 billion in the second quarter, up 3 percent from the previous three months. They were down about 10 percent compared with the same period in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”

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