Politics

Will Jamie Dimon’s Rant Create Another Tea Party Movement?

“We have become one of the most bureaucratic, confusing and litigious societies on the planet…We need to get our act together.”

— Jamie Dimon, CEO, JPMorgan/Chase

The stock market has defied the Cassandras and continues to move higher, despite failure of the Trump administration to advance its agenda of cutting taxes and regulations.

We will be confronting Senator Mike Lee at FreedomFest this Friday, July 21, with this paramount question: Why can Democrats push through legislation (ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank) when they are in power but Republicans can’t?

Often the Democratic Party is called the “evil” party, and the Republican Party is called the “stupid” party. Both seem to be about right.

Last week, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, engaged in a rant not unlike what CNBC’s Rick Santelli did in 2009 after the financial crisis (which led to the Tea Party Movement). Dimon said what is on the minds of most intelligent Americans — we are fed up with the big-government bureaucracy that is strangling our economy. And both the Republicans and Democrats are at fault.

In discussing second-quarter earnings, Dimon said he was disgusted by the “slow growth” policies coming out of Washington since the financial crisis. “We have become one of the most bureaucratic, confusing and litigious societies on the planet,” Dimon said. “It’s almost an embarrassment to be an American citizen traveling around the world and listening to the stupid sh—t we have to deal with in this country.” He warned that “we need to get our act together” — specifically by rebuilding our infrastructure and our education system, and by cutting taxes and regulations.

According to Dimon, other countries are much more friendly toward business. “I was just in France, Argentina, Israel and Ireland. We met with the Prime Minister of India and China. It’s amazing to me that every single one of those countries understands that practical policies to promote business and growth is good… for the average citizens of those countries, for jobs and wages….”

Dimon said it was time to end the gridlock in Washington and eliminate all the unnecessary regulations, taxes and excessive welfare that is going to bankrupt America.

You can listen to Jamie Dimon’s statement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phL-UDaZzBg

What’s amazing is that Dimon is no partisan Republican — in fact, he donates mostly to the Democratic Party. His bipartisan attack on Washington included Democrats, who are uniformly obstructionists to tax and regulatory reform.

Is anyone listening? Jamie Dimon’s rant deserves widespread support by all citizens.

In case you missed it, I encourage you to read my e-letter from last week about the respective roles luck and skill play in your success.

Mark Skousen

Mark Skousen, Ph. D., is a professional economist, investment expert, university professor, and author of more than 25 books. He earned his Ph. D. in monetary economics at George Washington University in 1977. He has taught economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Grantham University, Barnard College, Mercy College, Rollins College, and is a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He also has been a consultant to IBM, Hutchinson Technology, and other Fortune 500 companies. Since 1980, Skousen has been editor in chief of Forecasts & Strategies, a popular award-winning investment newsletter. He also is editor of four trading services, Skousen TNT Trader, Skousen Five Star Trader, Skousen Home Run Trader, and Skousen Fast Money Alert. He is a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, a columnist to Forbes magazine (1997-2001), and past president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in New York. He has written articles for The Wall Street Journal, Liberty, Reason, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Christian Science Monitor, and The Journal of Economic Perspectives. He has appeared on ABC News, CNBC Power Lunch, CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN Book TV. In 2008-09, he was a regular contributor to Larry Kudlow & Co. on CNBC. His economic bestsellers include “Economics on Trial” (Irwin, 1991), “Puzzles and Paradoxes on Economics” (Edward Elgar, 1997), “The Making of Modern Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2001, 2009), “The Big Three in Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2007), “EconoPower” (Wiley, 2008), and “Economic Logic” (2000, 2010). In 2009, “The Making of Modern Economics” won the Choice Book Award for Outstanding Academic Title. His financial bestsellers include “The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy” (Simon & Schuster, 1983), “High Finance on a Low Budget” (Bantam, 1981), co-authored with his wife Jo Ann, “Scrooge Investing” (Little Brown, 1995; McGraw Hill, 1999), and “Investing in One Lesson” (Regnery, 2007). In honor of his work in economics, finance, and management, Grantham University renamed its business school “The Mark Skousen School of Business.” Dr. Skousen has lived in eight nations, and has traveled and lectured throughout the United States and 70 countries. He grew up in Portland, Ore. He and his wife, Jo Ann, and five children have lived in Washington, D.C.; Nassau, the Bahamas; London, England; Orlando, Fla.; and New York. For more information about Mark’s services, go to http://www.markskousen.com/