The chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase wants you to know he’s a patriot—definitely above “this Democratic, Republican [BS]” he criticized during a speech ripping the federal government’s competence in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
Dimon, who has helmed JPM through some pretty choppy waters in his ten years as chairman of the board, sounded like an aspiring political leader during a speech for the Economic Club of Washington.
“We’d be booming,” he said, if not for a government crippled by partisan infighting. “We’re not booming because of all of the issues that we’ve self-created that have slowed down growth. And it’s time to do something. Wages? Growth will fix wage inequality. Cutting corporate taxes will fix wage inequality. Make it better. We should be very thoughtful about policy, get it right. And not just over-politicize.”
If you’re in business, “The interest of your country should be put before the interest of your industry or your company,” Dimon said. And if you’re in politics, the same goes for your party. The practical wisdom of business, he said, concerns the growth and creation of infrastructure and booming private economies: “What people actually need,” that is. “Not this Democratic, Republican bull s—.”
At that, he was interrupted, once again, by an enthusiastic burst of applause.
Another crowd-pleaser: “You know what? The only thing they do really well is the United States military,” he said of the government, listing its faults and (mostly) failings. He certainly knows what to say. (Plus, he has kind eyes and a rakish, folksy charm uncommon in a master-of-the-universe type; this is no Michael Bloomberg.)
When the president of the Economic Club, David M. Rubenstein, founder and CEO of the Carlyle Group, brought up the prospect of a future in elected office, a ripple of giggles made it seem a tongue-in-cheek proposal—but Dimon’s studied reply suggested otherwise.
“I’d love to be president of the United States of America, okay?” he said. “And until Donald Trump [won the Republican nomination], I said you’ll never see a rich businessman who’s never been in politics be president. So I clearly was wrong about that.”
He went on to say, and then repeat (protesting, perhaps, too much), that running for president at this point would be, “Too hard and too late.”
After a solid stretch of presidential rhetoric, Dimon answered a question about his future plans. He’s not plotting a move to General Motors or anything like that, although friends have suggested it, but in a few years it may time to hand off the reins at JPM and roll on. And then, who knows?
