Bank of America (BAC) Chairman Brian Moynihan said he’ll ask to meet with New York City’s Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, because it’s in his company’s best interest.
“We have an obligation as a company to work with him to try to make the city successful,” the bank chief said in an interview on Fox News. “I’ve got 16,000 teammates who are just in the neighborhood, here, and we’ve got to make it successful.”
He doesn’t focus on the party of the incoming official. “Our job is to make every politician successful, because when cities, and towns, and states, countries are successful, we’re successful.”
While people focus on who’s leaving an elected office and who’s coming in, the incoming official needs to govern for all people in their constituency.
“You’ve got to be competitive, so businesses locate the next job there,” Moynihan said. “Everybody focuses on people pulling out, but it’s really the next jobs that cost you.”
Turning to the economy and the upcoming shopping season, Bank of America (BAC) data is indicating that the holiday shopping season is off to a “pretty good start,” he said. “All cohorts in our customer base are growing at different rates,” he added, noting there’s a difference between the rate of spending in lower-income households vs. that in higher-income ones.
Discussing the rate of inflation, Moynihan highlighted that inflation has come down to about 3% after the Federal Reserve belatedly ratcheted up its policy rate to address spiking post-COVID inflation. Bank of America (BAC) expects it to remain at 3% through all next year. “We’re down to a level that’s controllable,” he said.
The U.S. has to make sure inflation comes down, while watching the labor market to make sure it stays strong, Moynihan said.
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