The entire business world is eagerly anticipating the Federal Reserve’s move to start trimming interest rates but not Jamie Dimon. Instead the JPMorgan Chase CEO wants the Fed to wait until the prospect of a recession in the US is “off the table.”
There is a general consensus among economists that the US is headed for a soft landing and Dimon doesn’t discount that idea although he is not as bullish as other projections are. “The world is pricing in a soft landing, at probably 70-80%,” he said addressing the Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney through a video link.
“I think the chance of a soft landing in the next year or two is half that. The worst case would be stagflation.” He puts the odds of a recession at around 65%
Bloomberg reported Dimon’s comments as well as other publications.
Dimon has not been impressed by economic indicators since the pandemic, which he says distorted their accuracy and now he takes them “with a grain of salt.” Therefore, he would like to see the Fed wait for more clarity before lowering interest rates, preferably sometime after June.
“They can always cut quickly and dramatically. Their credibility is a bit at stake here,” he said.
Dimon has been bearish about the US economy for some time, warning in 2022 that a “hurricane” was about to hit the US economy.