JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon speaks during the US Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee's oversight hearing on Wall Street Companies, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US. USA, December 6, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sees risks rising around the world amid widening conflicts in the Middle East and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine showing no signs of abating.
“We have been closely monitoring the geopolitical situation for some time, and recent developments show that conditions are treacherous and worsening,” Dimon said Friday in the bank's third-quarter earnings release.
“There is significant human suffering and the outcome of these situations could have far-reaching effects on both short-term economic outcomes and, more importantly, the course of history,” he said.
The international order in place since the end of World War II is crumbling in light of conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, rising tensions between the United States and China, and the risk of “nuclear blackmail” by Iran, South Korea, North and Russia, Dimon said last week. month during a fireside chat held at Georgetown University.
“It's rising, folks, and it takes really strong American leadership and leaders of the Western world to do something about it,” Dimon said in Georgetown. “That's my number one concern, and it eclipses anything else I've had since I've been working.”
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas recently reached the one-year mark since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 sparked the war, and there have been few signs of it slowing down. Tens of thousands of people have been killed as the conflict has expanded into fighting on multiple fronts, including Hezbollah and Iran.
At least 22 people were killed and more than 100 injured in Beirut in Israeli airstrikes on Thursday. Iran launched more than 180 missiles at Israel on October 1 and concerns have grown that an Israeli retaliation could target Iranian oil facilities.
Meanwhile, the Russian government last week approved a draft budget that increased defense spending by 25% over 2024 levels, a sign that Russia is determined to continue its invasion of Ukraine, analysts say.
Dimon also said Friday that he remained cautious about the future of the economy, despite signs that the Federal Reserve has engineered a soft landing.
“Although inflation is slowing and the U.S. economy remains resilient, several critical issues remain, including large fiscal deficits, infrastructure needs, trade restructuring, and the remilitarization of the world,” Dimon said. “While we hope for the best, these events and the prevailing uncertainty demonstrate why we must be prepared for any environment.”
