Jamie Dimon Says He Never Bought Into American Exceptionalism. He Blames Regulation And 'Stupid Bureaucracy' For Slowing The Country Down

Yahoo

22-05-2025

Jamie Dimon says the U.S. can't take its status as the world's top economic power for granted anymore.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg Television, the JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) CEO was asked whether he worries about U.S. supremacy and exceptionalism. He answered, perhaps surprisingly, that he never quite believed in American exceptionalism and warned that regulation and what he called 'stupid bureaucracy' are holding the country back.
'We've slowed ourselves down with regulation, stupid bureaucracy,' Dimon said. 'We haven't done budgets in years. So, no, we shouldn't assume it's forever.'
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He pointed to a long list of issues that are weighing on the economy: inflation, deficits, rising interest rates, and ongoing global conflicts.
'There's a lot of uncertainty out there that you can't discount,' he said, mentioning the war in Ukraine, terrorism, instability in the Middle East and U.S. deficits. He also highlighted the risks created by tariffs, saying that although the U.S. has backed off some of its earlier moves, even the current level of trade tension is causing companies to hesitate.
'Even at this level, you see people holding back on investment and thinking through what they want to do,' Dimon said.
On the possibility of a U.S. recession, Dimon didn't give a firm prediction. Instead, he deferred to economists and put the chances at 'about 50%.' Interestingly, JPMorgan's analysts raised their recession probability to 60% in April, up from 40% in March.
He added, 'All these things are probably inflationary... and slowing down the economy.'
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Still, despite the challenges, Dimon said America remains the top choice for investment: 'If you would take all of your money and put it in one country, it would still be America.'
However, he cautioned that this dominance isn't guaranteed. "You do not have a divine right to success,' he said. 'If we don't do everything right, we can lose that.'
Dimon also expressed admiration for some foreign leaders who he believes are taking a more business-friendly approach. He praised French President Emmanuel Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for their pro-business attitudes. 'I think Macron is one of the best political leaders on the planet today.'
On global competition, Dimon was frank: 'Assume competition. Assume they're coming at you in every angle.'Asked about market volatility, Dimon said he expects it to continue and warned against assuming it will go away anytime soon.
'I think it's a mistake to think we can go through all the things we're going through and the volatility itself will come down,' he said.
As for JPMorgan's return-to-office policy, which drew media attention earlier this year, Dimon stood firm: 'I'm not against work from home. I'm against work when it doesn't work.'
He said the company has seen no additional attrition and that young employees especially need in-person experience to grow.
'It's an apprenticeship system and you can't learn working from your basement,' Dimon said.
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