JPMorgan’s Dimon warns of inflation, political polarization and wars that pose risks not seen since World War II
NEW YORK — The nation’s most influential banker, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, told investors Monday that he continues to expect the U.S. economy to be resilient and grow this year. But he worries that geopolitical events, including the war in Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas, as well as political polarization in the U.S., could create an environment that “could very well create risks that could threaten everything since World War II.” can overshadow.”
The comments came in an annual shareholder letter from Dimon, who often uses the letter to discuss broad topics such as politics, regulation and global events and what this could mean for JPMorgan Chase, as well as the broader economy.
“America’s global leadership role is being challenged from without by other countries and from within by our polarized electorate,” Dimon said. “We must find ways to put aside our differences and work together with other Western countries in the name of democracy. In this time of great crises, it is imperative that we unite to protect our essential freedoms, including free enterprise.”
Dimon was particularly concerned about continued large deficit spending by the US government and other countries, and the need for countries like the US to remilitarize and continue building green infrastructure, which is likely to push inflation higher remain than those of investors. to expect.
Because of these issues, Dimon said he is less optimistic that the U.S. economy will achieve a “soft landing,” which he defined as modest growth coupled with declining inflation and interest rates, compared to the broader market. While he says investors are pricing in a “70% to 80%” chance of a soft landing, Dimon thinks the chances of such an ideal outcome are “a lot smaller” than that.
“These significant and somewhat unprecedented forces cause us to remain cautious,” he said.
Like many CEOs, Dimon said he sees promise in artificial intelligence use cases. The bank has found 400 use cases for AI so far, Dimon said, mostly in the bank’s marketing, fraud and risk departments. The bank is also exploring the use of AI in software development and overall employee productivity plans.
“We fully believe that the consequences (of AI) will be extraordinary and potentially as transformative as some of the most important technological inventions of the past few hundred years: think the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computers and the internet . .”