WISH-TV Exclusive: JPMorgan Chase CEO talks recession, inflation

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase SOT

**This is a developing story.  Check back for updates on Dimon’s comments and video of the full interview**

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The leader of the world’s largest bank is in Indianapolis, speaking exclusively to WISH-TV.

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, sat down Tuesday morning with Scott Sander, WISH-TV Senior Daybreak Anchor and Business Anchor.

Sander asked him about the Federal Reserve’s pending decision to possibly lower interest rates.

Dimon said the economy remains strong, including rising house and stock prices, increases in wages, and that businesses are in good shape.

“They’re going to have to react to what actually happens,” Dimon told Sander. “Some think they’ll reduce a little bit, some think a little bit more. I think there’s a chance they won’t reduce them at all. I’d be a little cautious at this point. The good news is there’s a strong economy.  The bad news is that does correlate to inflation. You’d rather have a strong economy with low inflation than a really weak economy.”

Sander also asked about the possibility of a recession, home ownership obstacles, and one specific change Dimon would like to see that he calls critical to “fixing income inequality and will reignite the American Dream.”

Dimon’s words carry extraordinary impact worldwide in the financial community.

He’s often considered the leading voice among banking executives in the United States.

Dimon became CEO of JPMorgan in January 2006 and has led the company to become a titan, the top-ranked bank in the world based on market capitalization.

Dimon has warned in recent months, “This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades.”

He cautioned as recently as November that the U.S. economy could still fall into a recession.

JPMorgan Chase is also an original supporter of the Multicultural Media Producing Program (MMPP) with Circle City Broadcasting, parent company of WISH-TV and WNDY.

MMPP is aimed at training today’s students to become tomorrow’s news producers and newsroom leaders.

The first MMPP class graduated in December.  The second class is underway now.