JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon: US-China Tensions, Russia-Ukraine War ‘Far More Concerning’ Than Recession

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says the tensions between the U.S. and China and the Russia-Ukraine war are “far more concerning than whether there’s a mild or slightly severe recession.” He stressed: “I would worry much more about the geopolitics in the world today.”

The CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, talked about something worse than an economic recession Tuesday at Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, an annual event sometimes dubbed “Davos in the Desert.” Approximately 400 American executives are attending the conference along with European and Asian business leaders.

Dimon explained that he considers geopolitical uncertainties to be much riskier than a recession, noting that they are among the biggest concerns facing the global economy right now. The JPMorgan executive opined:

The most important thing is the geopolitics around Russia and Ukraine, America and China, relationships of the Western world. That to me would be far more concerning than whether there’s a mild or slightly severe recession.

The JPMorgan chief added that a recession is not the most important thing JPMorgan thinks about. “We’ll manage right through that,” he emphasized. “I would worry much more about the geopolitics in the world today.”

Nonetheless, he cautioned: “There’s a lot of stuff on the horizon which is bad and could — not necessarily — but could put the U.S. in recession.” Dimon previously warned of an economic hurricane and something worse than a recession. He recently said that the U.S. economy could be in a recession in six months.

The relationships between the Biden administration and Saudi leadership are at a low point. The Saudis orchestrated an oil production cut earlier this month with OPEC+, the producer group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plus allies including Russia. President Joe Biden pledged that “there will be consequences” for U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia after OPEC+ said it would cut its oil production target by 2 million barrels per day. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly mocked Biden Monday.

The JPMorgan CEO believes that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia will be able to work through their recent tensions. However, he warned against America’s “everything our way” policy Tuesday, elaborating:

The American policy doesn’t have to be: ‘Everything our way’ … I can’t imagine any allies agreeing on everything. They will work it through and I’m comfortable folks on both sides are working through and these countries will remain allies going forward.

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