JPMorgan CEO sounds alarm on rising US debt

Published

2 years ago

January 10, 2023

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close video Jamie Dimon: ‘High’ gov. debt has ‘potentially disastrous outcomes’

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says banks will be there for customers in good times and bad.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon weighed in on fiscal policy under a new Congress and voiced concerns around rising debt’s macroeconomic impact in an exclusive four-part interview that aired on "Mornings with Maria" Tuesday.

While the U.S. government’s debt sits at $31 trillion and isn’t "today’s problem," according to Dimon, trying to pay it off one day will be a "hockey stick" to the economy and Americans’ pocketbooks.

"I'm talking about on the day that America can't pay its debt, that has potentially disastrous outcomes. Once American debt goes into default, a lot of people can't own it anymore and American debt doesn't cross-default, but it's cumulative," the CEO told host Maria Bartiromo.

"The [Treasury bill] defaults, and the next week T-bill defaults, the next week T-bill defaults, pension plans have to sell," Dimon continued. "It is so potentially dangerous we shouldn't get anywhere near it. And after all the shenanigans of politics, we're going to have to fix this. I think it's very bad for the nation to constantly be looking at this type of thing."

JPMORGAN'S JAMIE DIMON MORE OPTIMISTIC ON U.S. CONSUMER

Dimon further expressed worries about the fiscal regulatory system in America but argued "strong" consumer sentiment and balance sheets – combined with the "right" policy – could help the economy grow by 3%.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase, says rising U.S. debt has “potentially disastrous outcomes” in an exclusive interview on “Mornings with Maria.” (Getty Images)

"I'm a little more worried about the regulatory system in America, the litigious system, the regulatory system. We're slowing down the formation of business, growth, permitting infrastructure projects. We shouldn't have infrastructure projects take five or seven years," JPMorgan Chase’s CEO argued. "So think, if you're about to put $1 billion into offshore wind and all of a sudden you thought you can do it in two years, but it's going to be 7 to 10 and you don't know and you have to have a lot of litigation aside, are you going to do the $1 billion? And that has become a far bigger problem than dealing with certain types of smaller regulations."

One of the problematic systems involves U.S. energy, according to Dimon, who doubled down on his support for investing in domestic producers’ plans for more pipelines and drilling permits. During a House Financial Services Committee hearing last year, the CEO had said halting funds for new oil and gas products "would be the road to hell for America."

"I believe we should be doing things about climate, CO2, but it's not a simple thing like just stop financing them," Dimon said. "So if I can stop financing a good oil company, that isn't going to help. What we need is pipelines, permits. We can't even get the permits to build solar… we need very comprehensive policy, and I don't think we have that right yet. I think we're spending too much time just yelling and screaming at each other as opposed to what we need to accomplish these very important goals of climate sustainability and resiliency, and efficient and effective oil price and delivery." close video GOP-controlled Congress needs to enact ‘competent policy’: Jamie Dimon

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon calls for policy reform in education, healthcare, immigration and more in an exclusive interview on ‘Mornings with Maria.’

Dimon explained he doesn’t publicly blame or support one party over the other, but that the newly sworn-in Congress should put forward other "competent" policies in education, health care, infrastructure and even immigration.

"We need an immigration policy. We need to stop illegal immigration. We need more legal immigration," the CEO said. "I would have a heart for DACA and things like that. So if we do those things right, we're going to grow 3%."

Rising interest rates and unwinding balance sheets from the Federal Reserve could also create an economic "problem," according to Dimon. The Fed has indicated taking $2 or $3 trillion of cash out of its balance sheet by selling securities.

"At one point, that may cause all of this volatility in the markets and stuff like that. And they'll have to deal with it when they get there," Dimon said. "And part of it is rules and regulations, part of it's the money, part of it's the fiscal stimulus. It's kind of a complex type of thing. But I do expect at one point they'll cause a problem."

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE close video J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference serves as ‘birthplace of a lot of deals’: Jamie Dimon

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon discusses the state of the company and macroeconomic picture in an exclusive interview on ‘Mornings with Maria.’

Preparing for an economic "crisis" means gathering the best weapons in your personal arsenal to avoid economic volatility fueled by policy, Dimon noted.

"In terms of crisis, it's having the army to fight it beforehand, proper margins, proper accounting, and then when they happen, you better move very quickly and kind of do the right thing," he said. "It's the type of thing that Warren Buffett refers to, it doesn't go backward, it may stop going forward sometimes, but it's always growing and innovating. And part of it is this enormously prosperous economy, which we need to make sure we keep prosperous."

Entertainment

French woman faces online mockery after being conned out of £700,000 by fake Brad Pitt

Published

2 hours ago

January 16, 2025

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French woman faces online mockery after being conned out of £700,000 by fake Brad Pitt

A French woman has been mocked on social media after losing more than €830,000 (£700,000) to scammers posing as the Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.

The 53-year-old interior designer, known only as Anne, thought she was in a year-long romantic relationship with the Fight Club and Ocean’s Eleven star.

But after opening up about her ordeal to reporters, she suffered so much trolling that the French television channel TF1 had to pull her interview.

“The story broadcast this Sunday has resulted in a wave of harassment against the witness,” TF1 presenter Harry Roselmack wrote on X.

“For the protection of victims, we have decided to withdraw it from our platforms,” he added.

At the time of the broadcast, Anne was reported to have been suffering from severe depression.

Anne told TF1’s Seven to Eight show that, after starting to use Instagram for the first time, she was contacted by someone posing as Pitt’s mother.

“She told me that her son needed someone like me,” Anne explained. The scammers messaged her again several days afterwards, this time posing as Brad Pitt.

Anne said she began talking to the fake version of the actor sometime in February 2023 on different social media and messaging platforms, including WhatsApp.

Images from the TF1 programme have been widely shared online, showing a number of AI-generated images of Brad Pitt in hospital, designed to trick Anne in believing she was interacting with the 61-year-old actor.

‘I really didn’t understand’

“At first I said to myself that it was fake, that it’s ridiculous,” Anne explained to TF1. “But I’m not used to social media and I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.”

Scammers began requesting money, telling Anne that Brad was in hospital with kidney cancer and needed money for treatment. He claimed his bank accounts were frozen during divorce proceedings with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

She eventually agreed to transfer a large sum of money to a Turkish bank account after receiving an email from the fake star’s “doctor”.

Scammers ‘deserve hell’

Anne said she finally realised she had been scammed after she saw pictures of the real Brad Pitt with his current partner, Ines de Ramon.

“I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this?” she told TF1. “I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell.”

Police are investigating the scam, but the interview has triggered some social media posts making jokes at Anne’s expense.

French newspaper Sud Ouest reported that Anne was going through divorce proceedings with a millionaire entrepreneur at the time and needed hospital treatment for severe depression following the scam.

A spokesperson for Brad Pitt told Sky News: “It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities.”

They added it was “an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence”.

Environment

Biden’s $635M good-bye, Trump’s DOT pick will investigate Tesla, and a look ahead

Published

2 hours ago

January 15, 2025

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Biden's 5M good-bye, Trump's DOT pick will investigate Tesla, and a look ahead

On today’s episode of Quick Charge we explore the uncertainty around the future of EV incentives, the roles different stakeholders will play in shaping that future, and our friend Stacy Noblet from energy consulting firm ICF stops by to share her take on what lies ahead.

We’ve got a couple of different articles and studies referenced in this forward-looking interview, and I’ve done my best to link to all of them below. If I missed one, let me know in the comments.

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Environment

In December, EV sales were still up and incentives were still sweet – Kelley Blue Book

Published

3 hours ago

January 15, 2025

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In December, EV sales were still up and incentives were still sweet – Kelley Blue Book

December-EV-salesKelley — Chevy Equinox EV (Source: GM)

EV sales kept up their momentum in December 2024, with incentives playing a big role, according to the latest Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book report.

December’s strong EV sales saw an average transaction price (ATP) of $55,544, which helped push the industry-wide ATP higher, according to Kelley Blue Book. The December ATP for an EV was higher year-over-year by 0.8%, slightly below the industry average, and higher month-over-month by 1.1%. Tesla ATPs were higher year-over-year by 10.5%.

Incentives for EVs remained elevated in December, although they were slightly lower month-over-month at 14.3% of ATP, down from 14.7% in November.

EV incentives were higher by an impressive 41% year-over-year and have been above 12% of ATP for six consecutive months. Strong sales incentives, which averaged more than $6,700 per sale in 2024, were one reason EV sales surpassed 1.3 million units last year, according to Cox Automotive, a new record for volume and share.

(My colleague Jameson Dow reported yesterday, “In 2024, the world sold 3.5 million more EVs than it did in the previous year … This increase is larger than the 3.2 million increase in EV sales from the previous year – meaning that EV sales aren’t just up, but that the rate of growth is itself increasing.”)

Kelley Blue Book estimated that in December, approximately 84,000 vehicles – or 5.6% of total sales – transacted at prices higher than $80,000 – the highest volume ever. KBB lumps gas cars and EVs together into this luxury vehicle category, so this is where Tesla Cybertruck is slotted.

However, Tesla bundles sales figures of Cybertruck with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi(!) into a category it calls “other models,” so we don’t know for sure exactly how many Cybertrucks Tesla sold in Q4, much less in December. However, Electrek‘s Fred Lambert estimates between 9,000 and 12,000 Cybertrucks were sold in Q4, and that’s not a stellar sales figure.

What will January bring when it comes to EV ATPs? What about tax credits? Check back in a month and I’ll fill you in.

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