Jamie Dimon — the anti-bitcoin CEO of JPMorgan Chase — says a global recession is not coming, so everyone needs to “take a deep breath” and chill out.
Dimon said the Dow and other stock market indices are merely experiencing a temporary hiccup, but that doesn’t mean the US economy will slide into a recession anytime soon.
Dimon to Everyone: ‘Take a Deep Breath’
“It looks to me like a slowdown [not a recession],” Dimon told Fox Business (video below). “Sentiment changed dramatically for a whole bunch of different reasons. But the United States is still growing, at 2.5%. We just had some good wage data.”
It’s very possible we have a slowdown. People [should] take a deep breath. Things will open up a little bit.
Dimon said the recent stock market slump occurred due to concerns about rising interest rates and a potential US trade war with China. But things have calmed down since then, and the market has rebounded nicely.
Despite the recent market turmoil, the US economy is in good shape at the moment. The unemployment rate has plunged to a 48-year-low, and 312,000 jobs were added in December 2018 — far more than the 177,000 that were expected.
“It looks like there will be growth,” Dimon said. “It’s not like we’re going into a global recession. We’re going to have maybe slower growth than people expected a couple of months ago.”
Moreover, Jamie Dimon says that US consumer sentiment is in “good shape” and will continue to improve.
“If you look at actual data, people are getting jobs, more people [are] working, wages going up,” Dimon explained. “Household balance sheet in very good shape, credit card credit — extraordinarily good. It’s better than we deserve at this point in the cycle.”
On Jan. 8, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 23,787, up 256 points, continuing a five-day rally.
Canadian Economist: 80% Chance of US Recession
Dimon’s bullish outlook differs sharply from the bearish projections of Canadian economist David Rosenberg, a strategist with Gluskin Sheff, a Toronto investment firm.
As CCN reported, Rosenberg isn’t impressed by the Dow’s recent recovery. In fact, he claims there’s an 80% chance that the US will fall into a recession, bringing the global economy down with it.
“We’ve got more than 80% chance of recession just based on the fact the Fed is tightening policy,” Rosenberg told CNBC (video below).
For the record, in 2017, Rosenberg predicted that the US economy would crash down in 2018, but that did not happen.
Rosenberg placed much of the blame for the purported forthcoming recession on Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The Fed has raised interest rates seven times during President Donald Trump’s two-year presidency. In contrast, the Fed hiked rates just once during Barack Obama’s eight years in office.
Powell received widespread criticism after the Fed hiked interest rates for the fourth time in 2018, causing the stock market to tumble and spurring fears of a recession.
Bitcoin Proponent Ron Paul: Abolish the Fed!
Retired US Congressman Ron Paul — the father of current US Senator Rand Paul — reacted by renewing his calls to abolish the Federal Reserve.
Amid volcanic backlash from many sides, Powell softened his stance. On January 4 — two weeks after hiking rates for the fourth time in 2018 — Powell promised to be “flexible” and sensitive to how repeated rate hikes could tank the stock market.
“We’re listening carefully, with sensitivity to the message that the markets are sending,” Powell vowed Jan. 4. “And we’ll be taking those downside risks into account as we make policy going forward.”
Crypto Exec: 2019 Will Be Epic
Meanwhile, in Crypto Land, many executives remain bullish about bitcoin and expect a watershed 2019 for the industry.
As CCN reported, Travis Scher — a vice president at crypto investment firm Digital Currency Group — expects an influx of institutional investments this year amid an industry-wide consolidation.
“This is very real — companies like Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, and ICE are publicly making big moves in the space,” Scher said. “The change-averse corporate executives who have derided crypto will be embarrassed when their dismissive quotes resurface down the line.”
Featured image from Flickr/Fortune Global Forum