Veriton Investment

Dimon Warns Higher Inflation Risks Being ‘Skunk at a Party’ for US Economy

(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon warned that inflation could become a “skunk at a party” for the US economy.

“There’s some risk there’s more inflation than people think, and that could be like a skunk at a party if that ever happens,” Dimon said Monday in a CNBC interview at his firm’s annual leveraged finance conference in Miami. “Hopefully it doesn’t happen.”

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It’s the latest animal Dimon has invoked to talk about risks brewing in the financial system, just months after he warned about how cracks in the credit market were one “cockroach” that portended more issues to come. Last week, he cautioned that some rivals in the lending space are doing some “dumb things” in pursuit of earnings.

US inflation numbers released last month showed that price increases were fairly mild at the start of the year, with the consumer price index rising just 0.2% in January. But since then, the US and Israel launched missile attacks on Iran, sending oil prices surging and stoking fears about higher inflation.

US President Donald Trump warned that the bombing campaign against Iran could last for weeks. The strikes over the weekend killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials.

“This right now will increase gas prices a little bit, and again, if it’s not prolonged there’s not going to be a major inflationary hit,” Dimon said. “If it went on for a long time, that would be different.”