Jamie Dimon praises House leaders for Ukraine, Israel aid deal, but flags difficulty of getting anything done in the U.S.

By Steve Gelsi

JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive calls for more collaboration between government and business

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon on Tuesday praised a deal in the U.S. House of Representatives to send aid to Ukraine and Israel, while complaining that rules and regulations around the U.S. continue to hamper economic growth.

"God bless them for getting it done," Dimon said of House Majority Leader Mike Johnson, R.-La., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D.-N.Y., after the $95 billion foreign aid measure passed over the weekend.

Reiterating themes in his annual shareholder letter at an appearance at the Economic Club of New York, said he has been facing an "anti-business" attitude from regulators and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

"The only place I get treated like crap is Washington, D.C.," said Dimon, who appears every year in front of Congress with other bank chiefs to talk about the state of the industry.

From getting permits to building a pipeline to hooking up to the grid or making mortgages more accessible, getting things done in the U.S. remains more difficult than ever, he said.

"I'd like to see more collaboration between government and business and regulators," Dimon said. "We're missing opportunities...to educate kids and create jobs."

Dimon did not directly answer a question on whether he'd seek public office at some point, and instead focused on the need for the U.S. to cut its deficit and keep its fiscal house in order.

The country would be better off to have more business practitioners at the table because "the real world is more messy and complicated than academics think, in many cases," he said.

The bank's employment levels in New York have fallen by thousands over the years, while it's built up more of a presence in Texas, which is more pro-business, he said.

Still, New York remains "the financial capital of the world," Dimon said.

The political polarization of the U.S. has been fueled partly by the lower 25% of the U.S.'s wage earners that "has been left behind" with income levels that haven't gone up for 20 years, he said.

The U.S. has been divided before such as the Vietnam War years, and solutions are still possible, Dimon said.

"We have to grow our economy-it's the best way to fix everything," Dimon said.

While the U.S. may be poised for a soft landing with no recession, Dimon reiterated recent comments that geopolitical risk remains as high as it has been since World War II.

"The world order is being challenged," Dimon said.

One of the worst economic scenarios the U.S. now faces is stagflation, which is a combination of higher inflation and lack of growth, he said.

Turning to the topic du jour-artificial intelligence-Dimon said his bank has been using AI since 2012, but its role will touch all aspects of the economy over time.

"There's going to be a million ways to use it - it's real," Dimon said. "It's going to be used for everything."

While some jobs will be displaced, people can be redeployed for other tasks, he said.

AI is already being used to cheat and steal money, he said.

Dimon repeated past criticisms of cryptocurrencies as a way to launder money and evade regulation.

Along with Russia on the world stage, Dimon said the U.S. should try to get closer to China.

"We should engage with them...for the betterment of the world," Dimon said. "There's no other reason-other than Taiwan-that we have to have an adversarial relationship with them."

JPMorgan Chase's stock (JPM) rose by 1.3% on Tuesday. The stock is up by 12.8% so far in 2024, outpacing the 6.4% gain by the S&P 500 SPX.

Also read: Jamie Dimon sells $32 million in JPMorgan Chase stock as shares vest

-Steve Gelsi

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04-23-24 1434ET

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