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JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon says America used to be a ‘can-do nation’

JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon says America used to be a ‘can-do nation’


JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon loves America—but that doesn’t mean he won’t highlight its faults. Among Uncle Sam’s issues, the Wall Street veteran says, is that notion that the country is drifting away from its can-do roots.

Speaking to Spectrum New’s NY1, Dimon said there were a raft of changes America could make to increase its growth, adding it’s “deeply frustrating” when these don’t happen.

Among the changes the 68-year-old suggests are initiatives he’s mentioned previously. They include teaching financial literacy and healthcare in schools, as well as targeting educators on whether their pupils land jobs after graduating, as opposed to college admission rates.

In the interview released Thursday, Dimon made it clear he wants to see red tape reduced and opportunities made more available.

“There are all these things we can do to improve our society and it’s deeply frustrating to me that we don’t,” said Dimon—who has led the 240,000-strong workforce at America’s biggest bank since 2006. “You can talk about permitting and schools, health—but a lot of things we do we’re just not doing a great job at them anymore.

“I always say we used to be the can-do nation and now we’re as bureaucratic as big parts of Europe.”

Focusing on growth

Dimon, who was paid $36 million for his work last year, believes more focus should be put on growing the economy instead of bureaucratic barometers.

It’s a point he raised in his 2023 letter to JPMorgan shareholders, highlighting that growth over the past two decades has sat an an “anemic” 2%.

“We should have strived for and achieved 3% growth,” he wrote. “Had we done so, GDP per person today would be $16,000 higher, which would, in turn, have paid for better healthcare, childcare, education and other services.

“Importantly, the best way to handle our excess deficit and debt issues is to maximize economic growth.”

Yet growth still isn’t being talked about “enough,” Dimon added, with focus overly being put on the wrong metrics.

“We should be as a nation [thinking] ‘What do you do to grow?’” Dimon continued.

“Your growth actually helps everybody but you can make it very healthy by having inner city schools do better, focussing more on outcomes—not the outcome: ‘Did you go to math?’, the outcome: ‘Did you get a job and what did it pay?’”

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