• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, November 28, 2011

WPP CEO Martin Sorrell says the current debt crisis in Europe is a “side show” compared to the debt issues that the U.S. has to confront.

Speaking at the Reuters “Global Media Summit” in New York, Sorrell told the news organization’s editors that the U.S. was “kicking the can down the road in terms of deficit reduction,” a reference to the political battle between Republicans and Democrats on needed spending cuts to reduce the country’s debt. The two sides agreed to put off making any hard decisions on the issue until after the 2012 presidential election.

The debt crisis has become a favorite topic of both WPP and its CEO in recent public comments. Sorrell has chided political leaders in both Europe and the U.S. over the lack of will they have demonstrated in dealing with their respective debt crises.

In September at the Goldman Sachs Communicopia Conference in New York, he said a lack of leadership by politicians on the debt issue had contributed to the sense of pessimism about the economy that continues to grip both consumers and businesses. At that same conference, he also directly addressed the European and U.S. debt problems, describing the latter as “more worrisome” given that the U.S., with its $15 trillion economy, “still drives the world economy.”

In comments issued when WPP released its third-quarter results last month, the company stated that 2013 is likely to be a very challenging economic year: “The rubber is really likely to meet the road,  after the U.S. Presidential Election in late 2012 and into 2013, when a newly elected American President will finally have to deal with the U.S. deficit.”

With no solution in hand, Sorrell added that "most business people have given up waiting for the political Godots. You just can't run your business on the basis that something will turn up.” The corporate response, he said, has been to run the balance sheet “as conservatively as possible."

Sorrell also reiterated at the Reuters event his view that the 2012 ad economy should get a modest boost from the London Olympics, U.S. presidential election and European Football Championships. Last month, in comments on WPP’s third-quarter results, Sorrell said the company was projecting worldwide spending growth next year of 4%.