When it comes to national debt, the main lesson hawks want to impress on policymakers is the cost of inaction: how much the public will ultimately have to pay if officials don’t address deficits.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has echoed this warning in the past. It’s better to get ahead of a crisis than wait until it falls into one’s lap, he believes. But speaking on a live podcast with Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), Dimon outlined how he sees any reaction to deficit concerns ultimately coming about.
“I’m not that worried” about debt levels, Dimon said. “We’ll be able to deal with it. I just think maturity should say you should deal with it as opposed to let it happen. The way it’s going now, there will be some kind of bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it. It will be okay. It’s just not the way to do it.”
Concerns over the near–$39 trillion national debt burden the U.S. Treasury has accumulated over time are rising up the political agenda. The debt, accrued under both Republican and Democratic administrations, is now costing more than $1 trillion annually in interest payments alone. Both the president and his Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, have indicated they are mindful of the debt issue, suggesting tariffs and visas as revenue-generation schemes to help balance deficits.
