Jamie Dimon Says High Taxes and Quality of Life in Blue States Are Driving People Out

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon spoke candidly on affordable housing, high taxes, and the war in Iran, during a "FOX & Friends" interview Tuesday morning.

He said too many government regulations, like those in New York, have severely hindered the ability to build.

According to Dimon, getting projects done in New York state "can take you 10 years, and then after that, you have litigation."

"We have crippled our ability to build," Dimon said. "A lot of the reason there's no affordable housing is local zoning laws and local rules and local requirements. And the cost is 50% higher because of all those rules."

Dimon added if we want to fix these problems, we have to "get smart, think about it, analyze it, admit it, and do something about it."

Blue state exodus

Dimon said that high taxes and a declining quality of life are key factors pushing residents and businesses out of Democratic-led states.

“I tell people everyone's got to compete, including cities, and for a city to compete, of course it's quality of life. It's your subways. It’s your hospitals,” Dimon said. “But it's also individual taxes, state taxes, corporate taxes, and it drives people out."

Dimon compared blue states with red states—commenting, “All you have to do is look at California versus Nevada” and “New York versus Florida.”

“There's a huge exodus taking place,” he said. “It's not good for the city. And people just make a mistake, ‘Oh just tax these people.’ But that's the outcome. And very often people think they're being moral by doing that, but they're not. What they're doing is they're hurting your own city. And, you know, unfortunately, people vote with their feet.”

The war's impact on the economy

Dimon said that the economy is doing well, but admitted that the markets are affected by the war in Iran.

"Gas prices are going up, going to hurt people a little bit," he said. "But they still have money to spend. They still have jobs. So it remains to be seen."

He noted that the markets are unpredictable, and that it's hard to predict the potential impact. “We should all hope that … we win this thing and clean up the straits and that Iran is no longer a threat to everybody," he said. "The markets will be concerned until it's over.”

Dimon continued, “It's much more important that this be successfully completed than what the market does.”

American Dream Initiative

Dimon's main focus was the launch of JPMorgan Chase's American Dream Initiative (ADI).

He said it's a long-term program to invest in U.S. communities by supporting small businesses and entrepreneurship. It focuses on expanding access to capital, coaching, financial services, and other resources to help small businesses grow, hire more workers, and strengthen local economies.

He said, "We're going to double down in small business, affordable housing, mortgages, financial education, teach people how to invest money, teach people, start businesses. So, our folks are very excited about it.”

Dimon vowed, "The American dream is not over."