Episode summary
Dimon Says 'No Chance' He'd Take Fed Chair Position
The David Rubenstein Show
· · 6 min · Hosts: David Rubenstein · Guests: Jamie Dimon
Summary
Jamie Dimon says he would not take the Federal Reserve chair under any circumstances, but he would at least consider a Treasury secretary role if the president asked. He frames that as a matter of responsibility and fit, while adding that he likes being his own boss after decades running JPMorgan.
He then revisits the Great Recession, saying JPMorgan worked around the clock with governments to keep the system afloat and that the episode was terrifying. On current risks, he argues there is “no chance” of a repeat of that exact financial-system failure, though there could still be trouble somewhere, with geopolitics his biggest concern because of Ukraine, Russia and China.
Dimon also takes aim at what he sees as excessive regulation and policy drift. He says rules should be reviewed and improved rather than endlessly layered on, arguing that overregulation can reduce liquidity, slow housing and education outcomes, and even shrink the number of public companies. On the Fed, he says the central bank’s independence should not be chipped away because doing so would, in his view, push rates higher, not lower.
Key takeaways
- Dimon says he would take a call about becoming Treasury secretary, but there is “no chance” he would accept the Fed chair job.
- He argues the financial system is stronger than during 2008, saying there is “no chance” of a repeat of that kind of crisis.
- Dimon says geopolitics is his biggest macro concern, pointing to Ukraine, Russia and China as forces reshaping the world order.
- He says overregulation has made banking, housing and even public markets more costly and less efficient.
- Dimon says weakening Fed independence would backfire, because it would “drive rates higher, not lower.”
Notable quotes
“Pretty absolutely, positively no change, no way, no how for any reason”
“I would consider it if a president calls you up and asks you to do something, you know, you should consider it”
“You know, the biggest unknown is, is geopolitics, you know, And it's not like you have to be dangerous”
“In my view, this in my opinion, it will drive rates higher, not lower”
How the episode opens
You are chairman of the Fed. Pretty absolutely, positively no change, no way, no how for any reason. Okay.
Secretary Treasury, I would consider it if a president calls you up and asks you to do something, you know, you should consider it. So I would take the call and consider it and think about why and what they want, etc., but what they want and how they want to operate that be important to me. I like my job.
I've been my own boss for pretty much 25 years and I like it that way. When I was in Peru at the APEC meeting or something like that, I was coming on stage like this, a televised thing. And as I was walking up, you know, the person question me, I think it was from Bloomberg, you know, said, the president just tweeted that he likes you or something like that, but you're not going to be secretary of Treasury.
And she asked me on national TV, I said, that's good, because I'd like to be my own boss. So when we both like it that way, when the Great Recession happened, were you worried about the viability of our financial system? Your bank was in pretty good shape.
Are we worried that more many investment banks and commercial banks were to go under at that point? Well, a lot of them did, you know. And yeah, a lot of companies around the world, a lot of non-banks around the world went bankrupt.
You know, Jp morgan, we did a lot to keep people afloat. We took a lot of risk to do that. We worked with governments around the world.
It was it was terrifying and it was, you know, 24, seven. And, you know, people just tried to do the right thing and make sure, you know, we kept that.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- fed chair speculation
- fed independence
- interest rates
- treasury secretary
- monetary policy
Companies and tickers mentioned
- JPM
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- Bloomberg
Watch the episode
Watch “Dimon Says 'No Chance' He'd Take Fed Chair Position” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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