JPMorgan CEO Jamie warns world isn’t ready for 7% interest rate
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, warns that the war on inflation could worsen before improving.
In an interview published on Tuesday, Dimon warned that the Federal Reserve would suffer if it had to keep raising interest rates.
According to Dimon, “I am not sure if the world is prepared for 7%.”
The comments were made during a JPMorgan investor summit in Mumbai, India.
The comments exacerbated Wall Street’s nervousness, which has been fueled in part by concerns about the Fed keeping interest rates high for longer. During recent trading, the Dow was down nearly 300 points, or 0.9%. There was a 1.2% drop on the Nasdaq.
From near zero interest rates to just over 5% since early last year, the Fed has rapidly raised them.
My question to businesses is, ‘Are you prepared for something like 7%? ’ The worst case is 7% with stagflation. If they are going to have lower volumes and higher rates, there will be stress in the system,” Dimon said. “We urge our clients to be prepared for that kind of stress.”
The JPMorgan CEO quoted legendary investor Warren Buffett, who has famously said that it’s “only when the tide goes out that you know who’s been swimming naked.”
In other words, a downturn exposes who has been taking too much risk.
Dimon cautioned that another two percentage points of rate hikes would be “more painful” than the last two, adding: “That will be the tide going out.”
While Dimon is floating the risk of 7% rates, that’s not something Fed officials themselves have publicly endorsed.