Jamie Dimon cautions that Iran war “increases the odds of bad economic outcomes” | Newsmakers

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorganChase, the nation’s largest bank, has a financial stake in almost everything. Unlike many CEOs, he says it’s his job to speak out on many things.

This week, Dimon released his annual letter to shareholders — a document that comments on banking issues and also assesses risks to the economy, from inflation to the war in Iran.The letter asserts his company is ready for anything — noting, among other things, that it has profited during economic booms and also during recessions.

In conversation, Dimon tends to frame wars, crises and changes of government as situations to work through, whether he likes them or not.

In an interview on NPR’s Newsmakers video podcast, Dimon said he didn’t worry much about the way President Trump’s contradictory statements tend to send financial markets sliding and soaring again.

“I have to deal with the world I got,” Dimon said.

Dimon spoke with NPR at the JPMorganChase offices in Washington, D.C. The offices are a very short walk from the White House, which suggests the bank’s closeness to those in power: It is an influential business, and also a highly regulated one. Dimon has made hundreds of trips to Washington over the years to deal with one party in power and then the next.

The conversation was in a hallway decorated with historic artifacts of the company — including a black-and-white image of John Pierpont Morgan, the Gilded Age financier who shaped much of the U.S. economy and more than once provided vital support to the federal government.

NPR’s Newsmakers is a video podcast featuring high-profile interviews with leaders across society, from business figures to athletes to presidential contenders. Newsmakers is on YouTube, Spotify and npr.org. The interviews can also be heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, Up First, All Things Considered and Consider This.

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