DIMON: It's embarrassing to travel the world as an American citizen given 'the stupid s--- we have to deal with' (JPM)

pulse

July 14, 2017 2:51 PM

Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, is thinking about a lot more than his bank's earnings these days.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.

One a pair of calls Friday — ostensibly to discuss the Wall Street firm's better-than-expected results — Dimon went off on the political gridlock in the US.

At one point, Dimon went so far as to say on a call with analysts that it was "almost an embarrassment being an American citizen traveling around the world and listening to this stupid s--- we have to deal with."

He cited recent trips to India, China, Israel, Argentina, and Ireland, saying those countries understood the importance of investing in education and infrastructure and getting tax policy right.

"It's amazing to me that every single one of these countries understands that practical policies that promote business and growth are good for the citizens of these countries for jobs and wages and that somehow, this great American free-enterprise system, we no longer get it," he said.

He was pressed on the political situation in the US on several occasions, with one Wall Street analyst asking whether clients were beginning to worry about dysfunction and a lack of progress in Washington. Dimon flipped the question, saying that the US economy had grown despite years of bad policy and that it would continue to grow regardless of the political climate. It could just grow faster.

Dimon has taken the opportunity on numerous occasions in recent months to highlight problems in America, including its failing education system, stifling bureaucracy, and high levels of incarceration and opioid deaths. He has set out some solutions along the way.

These issues are much bigger than quarterly results, Dimon says, and he urged journalists to see the bigger picture.

"Who cares about fixed-income trading in the last two weeks in June?" he said. "I mean seriously?"

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