JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Calls For More Inclusive Economy Amid Coronavirus, Echoing Joe Biden

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called for a more inclusive U.S. economy in a memo Tuesday, as low-income and minority communities are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.

“It is my fervent hope that we use this crisis as a catalyst to rebuild an economy that creates and sustains opportunity for dramatically more people, especially those who have been left behind for too long,” Dimon said. “The last few months have laid bare the reality that, even before the pandemic hit, far too many people were living on the edge.”

There were 20.5 million jobs lost in April, with unemployment surging to 14.7%. Prior to the coronavirus crisis, a February survey by First National Bank of Omaha revealed that 53% of Americans do not have an emergency fund that covers three months of necessary expenses.

“An inclusive economy – in which there is widespread access to opportunity – is a stronger, more resilient economy,” Dimon continued. “This crisis must serve as a wake-up call and a call to action for business and government to think, act and invest for the common good and confront the structural obstacles that have inhibited inclusive economic growth for years.”

Although many wealthier white-collar workers have the option of safely working from home, many lower-income workers at places such as grocery stores and gas stations are at risk of infection from coronavirus.

Dimon’s rhetoric is echoing Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who has called for a more equitable and inclusive economy amid the coronavirus outbreak. Anonymous sources in the Biden campaign told Axios in March that Dimon is being mulled as Biden’s pick for Treasury Secretary.

“We have to build a much more inclusive, much more equitable middle class and an economy that everybody - everybody - gets a fair shot at,” Biden said at a campaign event on April 28.

Biden has criticized President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, while promising to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Dimon, who has a net worth of $1.2 billion, has said he would agree with higher taxes on the wealthy. "Individuals earning the most can afford to pay more, and I have no problem paying higher taxes to address some of the fundamental challenges and inequities in our society,” Dimon said in an emailed statement in January.

The U.S. is in its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Some Trump administration officials, such as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have claimed that the economy would bounce back during the summer, but public health officials have warned of a second wave of the virus in the winter.