Celebrate America, JPMorgan Chase Banker Dimon Says in Annual Letter

Even with all our problems, billions would choose to move here

American flags on display in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo: The Editors.

The CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, writes a long annual letter to shareholders that deals with a lot of policy issues. His letter for 2024 is out today. He has a list of five things that America needs to do well. The first on the list is “Celebrate America’s values and virtues, with humility, in order to restore civic pride, citizenship and purpose.”

This is so important that I am glad to see a corporate leader of Dimon’s stature taking it on. “While we should acknowledge America’s flaws, they should not be used to pull apart our country,” Dimon writes. “We need to believe in ourselves and get back to work (in the office!), not tear each other down.”

“Even with all of our current problems, billions of people, if they could, would leave their country and move to ours. Similarly, if most people could only invest in one country, they would choose the United States. Our exceptionalism is based on our freedoms, our liberties, our opportunities and our rule of law, all under the protection of the Constitution (and the military) of the United States of America,” Dimon writes. “You need only to witness the deep appreciation of new citizens, who often made enormous sacrifices to be here, to feel what it must be like when they take the Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America – it would bring you to tears.”

Again, this is so important.

Dimon also quotes Tony Blair to the effect that “we need to separate the populists from the grievances because many of these grievances are partially rooted in truth and must be addressed.”

Among the issues Dimon says “are causing legitimate frustration and anger in the country today” are “lack of control of our borders,” education that is overly costly and doesn’t teach enough job-related skills, “ineffective and incompetent government,” “profligate fiscal management,” “crippling litigation, bureaucracy and regulation,” and “damaging trade practices, particularly with China.” He also mentions “culture wars and virtue signaling,” noting, “the elite often insulted traditional values of family, God and individual success…We engage too frequently in class warfare and excessively in identity politics.”

Dimon’s second thing is growth. “From 2000 to 2024, GDP grew by just over 2% a year. Had it grown by 3%, which should be easily achievable with the right policy decisions, our GDP per person would be approximately $16,000 higher this year.” He writes, “we need to promote, not denigrate, businesses, large and small.” He says “On economic policy, the Republicans are right to champion business and free enterprise, limit excessive government intervention, establish an international tax system that has made America competitive for the first time in over 15 years, and cut back on needless, mind-numbing, job-killing regulations.”

More: “markets should allocate capital, not the government…The government is simply not good at allocating capital in a free market.”

“Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” Dimon writes. “The quicker this issue is resolved, the better….I am hoping that after negotiations, the long-term effect will have some positive benefits for the United States.”

As for the theory that Trump is intentionally causing a recession with the tariff threats as a way of pushing the Fed to lower interest rates, Dimon says, “it’s good to remember that in the stagflation of the 1970s, recessions did not stop the inexorable trend of rising rates.”

Dimon says we need a stronger defense industrial base. “Our stockpiles of vital munitions are seriously inadequate – if there was a war in the South China Sea, we would run out of missiles in seven days. If it were up to me, I would be stockpiling ammunition, air and missile defense, rare earths and other critical components…We don’t even have the proper capacity to build battleships anymore…many of the essential items we would need in case of war would come from potential adversaries.”

On health reform, Dimon says, “Healthcare should not be an annual purchase – you should be able to make a long-term buy, which means you would be the beneficiary of taking care of your own health.”

In May 2023 Bill Ackman was publicly pushing Dimon to run for president. I was skeptical at the time. At this point it is water under the bridge. Never mind making Dimon president. We sure could use some of the tone and policy in Washington. On the policy, some of it is certainly congruent with what Trump, his team, and congressional Republicans say they want to do, though there are some important distinctions. Dimon in particular rejects the dichotomy between Wall Street and Main Street that you sometimes hear from the Trump camp.

On that point, the July 18, 2024, post here, “Trump and Vance Could Crash the Stock Market,” may be worth a re-read.

As Dimon puts it in his letter: “We also exist in a nation awash with inaccurate and unfair labeling and scapegoating; i.e., Wall Street versus Main Street. Who exactly is Wall Street in this comparison with Main Street? Large business and small business are symbiotic.”

Summers versus Flier on Harvard endowment: How useful can Harvard’s endowment be as a buffer against federal pressure?

Two Harvard professors, both former senior administrators, offer different perspectives.

In an April 3 New York Times opinion piece, Lawrence Summers writes that universities “should make clear that their formidable financial endowments are not there to simply be envied or admired. Part of their function is to be drawn down in the face of emergencies, and covering federal funding lapses surely counts as one. Believe me, a former president of Harvard, when I say that ways can be found in an emergency to deploy even parts of the endowment that have been earmarked by their donors for other uses.”

In an April 4 New York Times opinion piece, Jeffrey Flier, a former dean of Harvard Medical School, writes of Harvard, “Even its $50 billion endowment with numerous use restrictions could not long withstand that attack.”

This would be the place to make some attempt at humor about Harvard’s formerly $50 billion endowment in light of the stock market selloff in recent days, but the Harvard Management Company is only 14 percent allocated to public equities with 39 percent in private equity and 32 percent in hedge funds “as a means of limiting equity exposure (public and private, collectively) and therefore, limiting portfolio risk.” We’ll see whether the hedge funds really do limit the risk (I have my doubts) but the private equity part at least allows Harvard to avoid getting realtime updates on how Trump tariffs are affecting valuations.

An AP postscript: In late February the Wall Street Journal ran a column from me under the headline, “Following the Money, the Associated Press Moves Left.” It said, “if Mr. Trump’s rollback of AP’s special access makes readers more skeptical, that may be healthy.”

Today the Israel Defense Forces announced, “The IDF and ISA struck the Hamas terrorist Hassan Abdel Fattah Mohammed Aslih in the Khan Yunis area overnight. Asilh, who operates under the guise of a journalist and owns a press company, is a terrorist operative in Hamas' Khan Yunis Brigade. On October 7, he infiltrated Israeli territory and participated in Hamas’ murderous massacre. Asilh documented and uploaded footage of looting, arson and murder to social media. Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence. We will continue to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel.”

Times of Israel military correspondent Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian noted, “On October 7, Eslaiah, who was freelancing for the Associated Press, took photos of a burning tank on the Gaza border which had been attacked by Hamas operatives. He also invaded Israel with the terrorists and photographed them entering Kibbutz Nir Oz, where dozens of civilians were massacred.”

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