JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said people should be less focused on recent U.S. economic news, and instead worry about what he described as "an axis of evil" that could "affect the free and Democratic world for the next 100 years."
Speaking at the 2024 Financial Markets Quality Conference in Washington D.C. on Sept. 17, Dimon pointed to Russia’s war against Ukraine in answering questions about the first U.S. central bank interest cut in four years, and its potential impact on the global economy.
"The most important thing that dwarfs all other things, that's really far more important today than it's been probably since 1945 is the war in Ukraine, what's going on in Israel, in the Middle East, America's relations with China, and the attack fundamentally on the rule of law that was set up after World War II," Dimon, who is regarded as one of the world’s top bankers, said.
Dimon said that aside from the two world wars, "very few" wars and conflicts dramatically affected the global economy, but said the current global instability was affecting food supplies, migration, and oil supply "and it's getting worse all the time."
"It's serious," Dimon said, adding: "There's been almost a million casualties in the Ukraine war, something like 20,000 Ukrainian kids have been kidnapped and sent to Russia.
"It's on the border of Europe. There's the threat of nuclear blackmail," he added.
Russia has consistently issued threats, including nuclear ones, since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
But as discussions between Ukraine and its Western allies over possible long-range missile strikes deep inside Russian territory have progressed in recent weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials have upped their rhetoric, claiming that such a move would equate to NATO waging war with Moscow.
Dimon described "Iran, North Korea and Russia" as an "evil axis who are working every day on how to make it worse for the Western world and for America."
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has deepened ties with both North Korea and Iran.
Both Kyiv and Washington have previously said that Russia has been using North Korean-produced missiles to attack Ukraine. In March, Ukrainian prosecutors reported that Russia had fired around 50 such missiles to attack six Ukrainian oblasts since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
In exchange for the ammunition, Russia reportedly provided North Korea with technology to help it deploy spy satellites as well as tanks and aircraft.
In late June, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang, where he signed a partnership agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which pledged to provide aid to one another if either will be attacked.
More recently, the U.S. confirmed on Sept. 10 that Iran has provided Russia with shipments of Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles.
Tehran has also provided Moscow with thousands of Shahed kamikaze drones since the start of the all-out war.
"This may affect the free and democratic world for the next 100 years," Dimon said, adding people were "overly focused" on how the interest rate cut would affect markets.
"Honestly, most of us have already been through that stuff, it doesn't matter as much," he said.
"It's ratcheting up folks and it takes really strong American leadership and Western world leadership to do something about it. That's my number one concern."
Chris York
(Updated: )
