Jamie Dimon thinks the US economy is doing just fine — and it could get even better.
The chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, (JPM) the nation’s largest bank, disagrees with economists predicting an imminent recession. Some believe the economy will turn south because of a trade war with China and rising interest rates.
“There will be another recession. It doesn’t mean it has to be early in 2019. It may very well be 2020, 2021,” he said in an exclusive interview from Paris with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “The American economy is still doing quite well. And it may very well be accelerating. Unemployment is going to hit probably a post-war low sometime in the next 12 months.”
Unemployment remained at 3.7% according to a government report released Friday. That matches a 49-year low.
Dimon was in France to announce a $30 million investment into Seine-Saint-Denis, one of France’s poorest districts. He aid global stock markets would be hurt by issues like atrade war between the United States and China and Brexit in Europe. But the economy itself is strong enough that it “may not be derailed by a little bit of short term negative news.”
President Donald Trump deserves some of the credit for the economic growth, Dimon said. He pointed to the administration’s moves to lower corporate taxes and eliminate regulations.
But the bank chief said he doesn’t like Trump’s approach to dealing with China, particularly the threat and use of tariffs. Dimon agrees, however, that issues need to be negotiated with China.
“I would prefer private negotiations. I hope that president’s strategy works, particularly with China,” he said.
Dimon said he regrets getting into a spat with Trump when he said earlier this year that “I think I could beat Trump. I’m as tough as he is, I’m smarter than he is. I would be fine. He could punch me all he wants, it wouldn’t work with me. I’d fight right back.”
Trump responded with tweets criticizing Dimon, saying he didn’t have the smarts to be president. Dimon told Amanpour that making the claim he did was a mistake.
“I wish I hadn’t said it,” he said. “I don’t want to be involved in macho tit for tat with anyone. I want to be serious about policy. I regret having said it. That was me acting like a child.”
