Jamie Dimon
I'm a little bit of an eternal optimist. People always say to me, 'If you go do this and it fails, what are you going to do?' I don't care. I'm going to give it my best shot. That's what I'm going to do. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. And I'll try again.Collection: Best
You can design a mortgage system that is different without a Fannie and Freddie, but there are principles you have to have, to have a good system.Collection: Design
If business doesn't thrive, it hurts America. We need improved relations, more collaboration, more thought and more consistency as we go about trying to make sure we have the best country in the world. Not scapegoating and finger-pointing.Collection: Business
I hope the story of 2011 is that America gets its mojo back. You've got to remember that America has the best universities; it's got some of the best businesses. It's got an unbelievable work ethic, rule of law. The story of 2011 will be America blossoming again.Collection: Hope
Companies that grow for the sake of growth or that expand into areas outside their core business strategy often stumble. On the other hand, companies that build scale for the benefit of their customers and shareholders more often succeed over time.Collection: Business
The best way to look at any business is from the standpoint of the clients.Collection: Business
America has the best hand ever dealt to any country on this planet, ever. Yes, we have problems, but you travel around the world, you'll see we have it all.Collection: Travel
In America, you keep on hearing productivity is low; secular stagnation, it's a new normal. It's just not true: We've had multiple wars; we're not educating our kids. We had government shut downs, badly-spent money, failures in the health system, failures and an extreme amount of regulation - that's why we're going slow.Collection: Health
I think that technology is the best thing that ever happened to mankind. It's an absurd notion that somehow, 'My God, what are we going to do when driverless cars come along?' It's going to save lives on the road. And maybe, one day, we'll all be working four days a week and not five or six days a week.Collection: Car
America is best when we come together with clear leadership, expertise, and the political will to take on difficult challenges and get things done. No one should ever doubt the strength and resilience of our country and our democracy.Collection: Strength
Most decisions are not binary, and there are usually better answers waiting to be found if you do the analysis and involve the right people.
It's great that people get together and collaborate, talk about the facts and the analysis, all in the interest of having a great financial system.
Some things never change - there will be another crisis, and its impact will be felt by the financial markets.
If you're blindly loyal to me, then you're just acting like a crony of mine. If you say you admire me because of the principles for which I stand, I understand that, but then you also have the right to call me to the carpet when you think I'm falling short.
As American citizens, if you believe all banks were bailed out, you would hate banks. I would, too.
Virtual currency, where it's called a bitcoin vs. a U.S. dollar, that's going to be stopped. No government will ever support a virtual currency that goes around borders and doesn't have the same controls. It's not going to happen.
Economies of scale are a good thing. If we didn't have them, we'd still be living in tents and eating buffalo.
People and companies make mistakes. I guarantee we'll make a mistake next quarter. So what? Businesses make mistakes. Hopefully smaller, and fewer.
We don't have a divine right to success. So I agree with a lot of politicians out there when they say, 'We've got serious issues.' We do: immigration, infrastructure. I think income inequality's one of them.
You cannot prove this in real time, but when economists 20 years from now write a book on the recovery, it may well be entitled, 'It could have been much better.'
That's my contribution - running a sound, healthy company that serves millions of customers well and employs hundreds of thousands of people. What else am I going to do? I'm not an artist. I'm not a writer. I'm not a musician. I'd love to be a tennis player or musician. I'm not.
It is true that too many people are not getting a fair opportunity to get ahead. We must find ways to help them move up the economic ladder, and everyone - business, government, and nonprofits - needs to play a role.
You can compromise without violating your principles, but it is nearly impossible to compromise when you turn principles into ideology.
No one can forecast the economy with certainty.
You know, the benefit in life is to say, 'Maybe you made a mistake, let's dig deep.'
I am not embarrassed to be a banker. I am not embarrassed to be in business.
The real story in housing will be a recovery in the economy that will drive a recovery in housing, When people are working, when there are more jobs, more households forming and people go back to buying cars, they're going to want their apartments and homes. And that's when you'll start to see a recovery in home prices.
We are totally open kimono with regulators.
Trade is very good for the country. It's very good for the GDP. It's good for wages, but it doesn't mean it's always good for every business. So we should have trade assistance, which is about relocation, re-education, and training.
We support too big to fail. We want the government to be able to take down a big bank like JP Morgan and it could be done. We think Dodd-Frank, which we supported parts of, gave the FDIC the authority to take down a big bank.
I am not interested when people refer to a quarter or this year because the way I look at a country is what are its prospects over the next 20-30 years, and India's are good.
In America, we have a two-party system, and the American Constitution is a piece of brilliance, but they did not know when they set it up we would just have a two-party system. It just so happens that our electorate pushed towards the two-party system because it's a very good way to govern.
Everything needs to work at the same time. But what keeps society vibrant permanently is jobs, industry, business, and stuff like that. It pays for everything else. If you just build affordable housing, and those people don't have jobs, it'll no longer be affordable soon. So you really have to build around the business community.
Among those people not graduating, there might be a Steve Jobs or Barack Obama. We'll never know.
I have gotten disturbed at... some of the Democrats' anti-business behavior, the sentiment, the attacks on work ethic and successful people. I think it's very counter-productive.
Abraham Lincoln never denigrated, never scapegoated, never finger-pointed. And he had reason to.
I am a patriot: I want to help my country and help it grow.
People need to understand: Businesses are going to make mistakes. They shouldn't be shot and hung every time.
The term 'too big to fail' must be excised from our vocabulary.
I love my children. I spend a lot of time with them.
My retirement date, every time you ask me that, I'm going to say five years. I don't want to retire.
Scale can create value for shareholders; for consumers, who are beneficiaries of better products, delivered more quickly and at less cost; for the businesses that are our customers; and for the economy as a whole.
The denigration of business hurts America, because the secret sauce for our economy is confidence. I don't want to hear that nonsense that all business is bad.
The government has the right to change laws and rules and regulations.
I am struck that so many of our leaders in the U.S. forget how strong our country can be.
If the economy grows, housing gets better, quicker.
You read constantly that banks are lobbying regulators and elected officials as if this is inappropriate. We don't look at it that way.
It is vital for officials and regulators to have input from people within our businesses who understand the intricacies of how financial markets operate and the consequences of certain policy decisions.
While legislation obviously is political, we now have allowed regulation to become politicized, which we believe will likely lead to some bad outcomes.
If the government wants to do social policy, it should not be done in a quasi-public company. If you have a mortgage guarantee company which is done by the U.S. government, it should be guaranteed by the originators, i.e., the shareholder.