Jamie Dimon

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I don't hate Jamie Dimon. He's smart and hard-working, and undoubtedly wants to believe that his work contributes to society. But his bank continues to harm millions of Americans, and his political activism is helping an entire industry pilfer and endanger the economy.

Now he's started to publicly express feelings of hurt and rejectedness, and therapists say such feelings may reflect a deep inner guilt. That would make sense. Fortunately, there's a way out, and we have a six-step program designed to heal Mr. Dimon's Inner Banker - and help save the economy. more »

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Jamie Dimon and the other mega-bankers who derailed the economy have a new PR campaign to sell you. They're saying that families who can't pay their mortgages must bear the blame - all the blame - for the foreclosure crisis. That means the public should just ignore banks' widespread lawbreaking in the registering and transfer of property titles. For the bankers who would appoint themselves the nation's moral arbiters, It's always somebody else's fault. more »

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A hedge fund manager's "investor letter" - really more of a staged, theatrical tantrum - has been getting a lot of attention lately. Daniel S. Loeb's diatribe demonstrates that banker greed is still out of control, and that it's as short-sighted and destructive as ever. The fact that Loeb is a registered Democrat and former Obama supporter doesn't matter as much as some people think. It's the same old story: Politics is just a means to an end, and the end in this case is self-enrichment.

If Loeb's pose as Hedge Fund Revolutionary seems like a ridiculous form of populism, remember: The Tea Party began with an angry outburst on the Chicago Board of Trade, from traders who were outraged that homeowners might be given a fraction of the aid bankers received. Loeb's letter is mostly a marketing ploy, but if he can become the Robespierre of the Hedge Fund Revolution I'm sure that would be fine with him too. more »

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An anonymous email's been making the rounds on Wall Street from some loser who thinks he's a shark. It's a nasty piece of work that reveals the mentality of the people that have been running our economy for some time, thanks to deregulation and political influence peddling. We caught a glimpse of that mentality in Goldman Sachs' testimony last week. But even though they seemed pretty odious to the public, the Goldman Sachs boys actually had their "play nice" faces on.

This email takes off the mask. It reveals the psychology of Wall Street in its rawest form. If it didn't it wouldn't have gone viral so quickly, being passed all around the Street by brokers satisfied that someone is finally telling "Joe Mainstreet" what superior human beings - what ubermenschen - brokers really are.

We've responded, below, and we're offering a challenge to the author: We'll debate you anytime.

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Tomorrow President Obama will return to Cooper Union in New York, where he gave a speech on financial reform as a candidate two years ago. We're told that his advisors want him to "go big" in his speech, as he did when he addressed a joint session of Congress on health reform. But if he follows the same course he followed in health reform - "going big" on rhetoric and then "acting small" on policy - he's not just courting political blowback: He's running the risk of going down in history as this century's Herbert Hoover. more »

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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon knew what he was talking about when he said that ""large corporate America is in very, very, very, very good shape." It's a crude and insensitive remark, but an accurate one.

Unfortunately, the rest of us are still paying for the party. We bailed out the big bankers once, and if Dimon has his way we'll probably be forced to do it again. Despite his company's record first quarter, he's complaining. He thinks that asking banks to cover the cost of their own potential failure is "punitive." Dimon, once known as the "Democrats' banker," is throwing more cash to the GOP these days, and in return his wishes are being slavishly carried out by the likes of Mitch McConnell.

How dangerous are Dimon and his colleagues? Using data from Robert Litan's valuable study of derivatives, as well as source data from the Comptroller of the Currency (plus some handy tips from Mike Konczal), I put together some pie charts.<!--break-->

1. "Too Big to Fail" is Worse Than You Think

The misuse of derivatives nearly brought down the economy, and the concentration of these instruments in a few hands forced the government to bail out their holders. Are we any safer today? Here's the market share held by the top five banks trading in derivatives:

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. The top five banks hold nearly 96% of the entire derivatives market.

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When it comes to the economy, the color of wisdom is orange. Some students at Syracuse University are protesting the selection of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as their commencement speaker. They're absolutely right: Dimon's a poor role model. more »

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The latest letter from J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to his company’s shareholders is a deliberate effort to obfuscate his own bank’s rapaciousness and deflect attention from the enormous sums it has spent lobbying against financial reform. more »

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Never underestimate Sarah Palin. She did a better job articulating anti-banker sentiment at last week's Tea Party Convention than Obama's done. Its followers don't realize it, but the Tea Party movement is really a Trojan Horse filled with bankers and lobbyists. It's a brilliantly designed mechanism for channeling anti-bank rage to the banks' own benefit, with Palin et al. in the forefront.

And it could work. more »

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