Hedging Bets or Another Ritual Entirely

Something is in the air

Submitted by Dixiecrat

The global bigwigs descended on Davos recently. We little people usually hear bland platitudes and current year slogans but from really rich and connected people, not just our peers on Facebook. This year there was something a little different. The Western populist rebellion keeps going, and no one should be surprised since underlying conditions have not changed. The only thing that has changed is the demographics that make up the votes collected. Competence matters. Policy matters. Our current governing class is incompetent and offers policies guided by an ideology detached from reality. The populists will hang around. One man offered kind words about populists and with his position within the system it would be wise to consider what they may mean.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon dared to say, albeit with qualifiers like ‘kind of’, that Trump was right about some issues. He also stated that people should treat them and their concerns with respect. Stop the presses! These are not Nazis who should be punched. These are not deplorables. Dimon stated that people should be “a little more respectful of our fellow citizens”. In a nearly decade long campaign to dehumanize the MAGA crowd, this is quite the change of tune. It is also coming from a very important figure. The CEO of the Whale who wears presidential cufflinks to talk before Congress is not a lightweight.

Mr. Dimon, the CEO and Chairman of JPMorgan Chase, has navigated a remarkable career in the financial industry, marked by strategic brilliance and effective leadership. Dimon's first significant move came in 2000 when he orchestrated the merger of Bank One, where he was CEO, with J.P. Morgan & Co. The merger was a pivotal moment in Dimon's career, creating one of the largest and most powerful financial institutions in the world. His foresight in recognizing the potential synergies between the two entities laid the foundation for JPMorgan Chase's subsequent success.

Really though, this is basic information off Wikipedia. Dimon was a co-CEO at Travelers and made two big decisions that showed leadership and foresight. Dimon was public about announcing the closure of the arb unit at Solomon Smith Barney. This was a bit of a shock as it was a revenue machine for the firm and had an amazing collection of talent. His second move is detailed in the book “A Demon of Our Own Design” by Richard Bookstaber. The LTCM fiasco that was all about Russian sovereign debt, and with the mega-yields for a sovereign nation, it felt like free money. LTCM would go under for its investments, but Dimon’s firm would remain unscathed because Dimon “held his hand up in the air, his thumb and fore-finger nearly touching. ‘By our next meeting,’ he ordered, leaning toward Mark Franklin, ‘I want our Russia exposure down to this.’” Greenspan, Rubin and Summers may have saved the world per the media, but Dimon did not need a bailout.

Dimon's commitment to innovation has also played a pivotal role in shaping JPMorgan Chase's success. Even before the big merger that made the Whale. Dimon’s focus was on making sure systems of the acquired firms were integrated into existing systems. Under his leadership, the bank embraced technological advancements, investing heavily in digital transformation. The adoption of digital banking platforms not only enhanced customer experiences but also streamlined internal processes, improving efficiency and reducing costs. This forward-thinking approach positioned JPMorgan Chase as a leader in the digital banking landscape.

If Dimon, who still stands atop JPM, is speaking more positively about MAGA voters and is even offering qualified compliments of former President Trump, a faction of the elite that flies off to Davos is hedging their bets and signaling they want to make peace. It is not all of them, but enough that see the value in keeping the gears spinning and murders down. The final agreement or compromise is not mapped out in any form, but the current trajectory is to rapid decline. Dimon was not the only figure to openly state this or express concern with current conditions, but his status makes him the whale.

There is another possibility. Trump would be elected to one term per constitutional limitations. Trump is known as the dealmaker. One term in a crisis moment could set him up as the Girardian scapegoat to push through all the hard policies to course correct the system for the 21st century. There is no re-election to worry about. What will fix X problem? These solutions are not the type of policies normally enacted, but who would be better to sign the pen to them than the man reviled by half the nation? The elites could say they did not want to do it and have a built in scapegoat for the hate. The changes put into place could be a Trumpian New Deal. Whatever pain and anger created by them would be focused on one man. The scam that is colleges and student debt, ending the immigration flood, some form of socialized health care (not just for the underclass and elderly), anything one can think of that would create a restructuring of America’s system to break the trajectory is on the table. We have not even mentioned the opportunity to be the villain to crush the woke tumor.

These figures know, and we all know except those blinded by fandom or pure hatred, that Trump is also the vain figure who would embrace this opportunity. To be the Boomer savior of the Fourth Turning is quite the role to finish one’s life. Anyone honest about Trump’s skills know there is no figure in our political class who is better equipped to sell the American public on a massive new configuration of economic arrangements. It is said that Trump allowed Hollywood to use his properties on the condition they film him in one scene. There is supposedly a cutting room full of these cut scenes that were filmed. This is one last role, one last scene and it is just speculation, but the elite must see the moment, the opportunity and most importantly, the man tailor made for it before them.