Jamie Dimon: Geopolitical tensions, ‘evil axis’ countries are top concern

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon thinks people are overly focused on the soft landing-hard landing debate. Geopolitical tensions pose the biggest risk to global financial markets and “may affect the free and Democratic world for the next 100 years,” he warned.

“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,” he said at the 2024 Financial Markets Quality Conference.

Dimon spoke about the nearly million casualties in the Ukraine war and the threat of nuclear blackmail. “Iran, North Korea and Russia, I think you can legitimately call an evil axis, who are working every day on how to make it worse for the Western World and for America.”

He added that he wouldn’t include China in the evil axis, but said they’re “on the wrong side, at least as far as I’m concerned and the Western world is concerned.”

Dimon mentioned Iran shipping ballistic missiles to Russia and Houthis’ attack in Tel Aviv. “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.”

The bank chief also talked about how China is on track to be a global leader, and the U.S. should try to maintain a “great relationship” with the country. As for China’s economic slump, Dimon said, “I think they’re going to reverse it.”