Jamie Dimon, the Chief Executive at JPMorgan Chase, gave a harsh reality check of the nation’s current economic stance.
During a conference hosted by AllianceBernstein Holdings, Dimon warned Americans to brace themselves for an economic hurricane caused by the Federal Reserve, rising inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“I said there were storm clouds. But I'm going to change it. It’s a hurricane…right now it’s kind of sunny, things are doing fine, everyone thinks the Fed can handle it. That hurricane is right out there down the road coming our way. We don’t know if it’s a minor one or Superstorm Sandy. You better brace yourself.”
With the fed facing the highest inflation rates in over a generation, Dimon said there are two major issues he is concerned about: How the Russia- Ukraine war is affecting rising prices for food and gas, as well as the Fed’s actions to raise interest rates and reduce its balance sheets in an effort to tame inflation. He suggested this can backfire and lead the U.S. to a recession.
“I hope those things disappear and go away, we have a soft landing and the war is resolved.. I just wouldn’t bet on all of that.”
The fed is expected to begin quantitative tightening (QT) later this month, a move that will ramp up to $95 billion a month in reduced bond holdings. Dimon says this can lead to huge mistakes, “we’ve never had QT like this, so you’re looking at something you could be writing history books on for 50 years.”
Meanwhile, the Biden administration and the Fed have come under fire from critics who say they have not done nearly enough in combatting the country's inflation.