Jamie Dimon says he doesn’t know if Iran war will be “tipping point” for recession

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said he doesn’t know whether the war with Iran will be a “tipping point” that pushes the U.S. into a recession, but “what’s more important to the future of the world is that the war successfully conclude.”

“The economy is one big, complex beast, and even AI can’t figure it out,” Dimon said in an interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil. “I tell people anything that happens is a straw on the camel’s back. So maybe one day the straw’s gonna cause that tipping point and push us through a recession. Hopefully not stagflation.”

Dimon said “the war is a couple straws on that camel’s back,” but that “whether that causes a tipping point, I don’t know.”

“I think what’s more important for the future of the world is that this war successfully conclude,” he said. Dimon pushed back against those who argue that Iran wasn’t an imminent threat, citing its ballistic missile capabilities and its nuclear program. 

He said it was “very unfortunate” that high gas prices would cause hardship for many Americans, and said “the sooner it gets properly resolved, the better.”

When asked what he’d say to people who already feel like America’s in a recession, Dimon said, “I think it is for them … there are parts of society that are not doing very well, and I completely acknowledge that.”

As to whether America needs to take control of and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Dimon said: “I don’t know the answer to that question.”

“I have to be a little humble here,” he said. “I don’t know what the military knows. I do know they’re quite smart.” Dimon said the military has “multiple plans on the books,” but said he thinks “it would be a real problem for the global economy” to leave without reopening the Strait of Hormuz —  a key transit route for 20% of the world’s oil supplies.