JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is not a man known for mincing his words, and his appearance at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos today was no different. Dimon, a longtime advocate for policies that support America’s most disadvantaged communities, repeated a call to increase income tax credits—even if it meant taxing the rich more.
The Wall Street veteran said he’d be perfectly happy to pay more taxes himself if he knew the funds were going to land in the hands of people who needed it, as opposed to Washington’s coffers.
The 69-year-old banker said that while the U.S. economy is faring relatively well, consumers are living in a K-shaped economy. This describes the diverging fortunes of wealthy individuals and those on the lower end of the income spectrum: Those on the higher trajectory keep tracking up, while those on the lower end trend down.
Upper-income earners are doing “far better,” said Dimon. “They got houses and stocks.” The lower-income side doesn’t have a rainy day fund, he added, with jobs getting harder to find and income growth stalling. One way to redress the balance, he said, is to double the income tax credit.
He explained: “I would give people working more money as a negative tax … I’d get rid of the child requirement. You’re giving it to the people who actually use it to further their lives, spend in their communities, take care of their kids, as opposed to government dictating how you spend money on every little thing.”
