The Discrepancy Between Means and Ends

Jamie Dimon is the chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co. As such he is one of the most powerful people in the United States and the world. Today Mr. Dimon has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal>, ostensibly a call for American leadership in “the Western world”. Here’s the opening:

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine punctured many assumptions about the future of the world and thus was a pivotal moment in history. America and the West can no longer maintain a false sense of security based on the illusion that dictatorships and oppressive nations won’t use their economic and military powers to advance their aims—particularly against what they perceive as weak, incompetent and disorganized Western democracies. In a troubled world, we are reminded that national security is and always will be paramount, even if it seems to recede in tranquil times.

It should also lay to rest the idea that America can stand alone. U.S. leaders must always put America first, but global peace and order is a vital American interest. Only America has the full capability to lead and coalesce the Western world, though we must do so respectfully and in partnership with our allies. Without cohesiveness and unity with our allies, autocratic forces will divide and conquer the bickering West. America needs to lead with its strengths—not only military but also economic, diplomatic and moral.

and here are his objectives:

• Rededicate ourselves to the qualities and principles that made America great
• Develop a Marshall Plan for global energy and food security
• Increase military spending, along with our allies, as much as necessary to protect the world
• Recover our economic dynamism
• Deal with China thoughtfully and without fear

I could be glib and remark that Mr. Dimon is probably the biggest single obstacle to achieving any of those objectives but I’ll be a bit more practical. See my previous post:

U. S. power overseas is a consequence of our military strength and our military strength is downstream from the productive U. S. economy—our production of stuff. Not finance or services.

To that end we need to undo the financialization of the U. S. economy that has taken place over the last half century. We’ve got to consume less, save more, make more of what we consume, and borrow less.

A couple of final points. I think that Mr. Dimon is dreaming if he thinks that “the Western world” is languishing from a dearth of U. S. leadership. If anything there’s too much U. S. leadership and an almost complete vacuum of followership on the part of our putative allies. Their attention is focused unswervingly on their own parochial interests as it has been for decades.

Second, they’ll follow if it’s in their interest to do so. They, too, are interested in a more vibrant U. S. economy.

Finally, why is Mr. Dimon publishing this op-ed at this time? Is he interested in throwing his hat into the ring? Why should he take such a demotion not to mention pay cut?