Don't Be Charmed by Jamie!
A lot of folks have taken notice of Jamie Dimon's recent Letter to Shareholders of JPMorgan Chase & Co. where he reigns as grand poohbah. He said a lot and it can read myriad ways. That, of course, is intentional. If you’re sitting atop the corporate side of the ruling class, it’s important you keep everyone happy by saying something with which they agree. No wants to read 27,800 words of banker talk, after all. We all focus on what interests us and generally ignore the rest, depending on others to tell us what might be important. Jamie is as political as it gets and he knows how to charm every one of us.
His letter, indeed, includes the following, which caused those of who are natural gas supporters to quickly rise and do one of those long slow claps:
Trade is realpolitik, and the recent cancellation of future liquified natural gas (LNG) projects is a good example of this fact. The projects were delayed mainly for political reasons — to pacify those who believe that gas is bad and that oil and gas projects should simply be stopped.
This is not only wrong but also enormously naïve. One of the best ways to reduce CO2 for the next few decades is to use gas to replace coal. When oil and gas prices skyrocketed last winter, nations around the world — wealthy and very climate-conscious nations like France, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as lower-income nations like Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam that could not afford the higher cost — started to turn back to their coal plants.
This highlights the importance of safe, secure and affordable energy. Second, the export of LNG is a great economic boon for the United States. But most important is the realpolitik goal: Our allied nations that need secure and affordable energy resources, including critical nations like Japan, Korea and most of our European allies, would like to be able to depend on the United States for energy.
This now puts them in a difficult position — they may have to look elsewhere for such supplies, tuning to Iran, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates or maybe even Russia. We need to minimize anything that can tear at our economic bonds with our allies.
The strength of our domestic production of energy gives us a “power advantage” — cheaper and more reliable energy, which creates economic and geopolitical advantages.
Great stuff, right? Yes, there’s no doubt, but it didn't come until 21,630 words into the Gospel of Jamie and it was immediately followed by this, which should send chills up your spine if you're not in the corporatist club ruining this nation:
In some cases, industrial policy (using government resources to subsidize investments to help make businesses more competitive) may be the only solution for quickly building up the industries we need (rare earths and semiconductors, among others) to guarantee resilient national security…
We need to strengthen and rebuild the international order — we may need a new Bretton Woods.
The international rules-based order established by the Western world after World War II is clearly under attack by outside forces, somewhat weakened by its own failures and inability to keep up with the increasingly complex world. This international order relies on a web of military alliances, trade agreements (e.g., World Trade Organization), development finance (e.g., International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) and related global tax and investment policies and diplomacy organizations (e.g., United Nations), which have evolved into a confusing and overlapping regime of policies. You can now add to it the new issues of cyber warfare, digital trade and privacy, and global taxes, among others.
It might be a good idea to convene a group of like-minded leaders to build and improve upon what already exists. The time may be right for a reimagined Bretton Woods — and by this, I mean revitalizing our global architecture. Since too many parts of the world have been neglected, any new system has to take into account and properly address the needs of all nations, including areas of concentrated poverty.
See what I mean? And, if you read earlier you find this:
Energy systems and supply chains provide the foundation of the global economy and must be treated with care.
At the same time, the opportunity here is immense. The investment required to meet climate goals — estimated at over $5 trillion annually — could generate economywide growth and opportunity at a scale the world has not seen since the Industrial Revolution.
The task for industry, policymakers and finance is to help formulate solutions that support the transition to a low-carbon economy, balancing affordable, reliable access to energy with generating economic growth.
To find a way forward, we sought input from diverse stakeholders in pursuit of a North Star. In Scottsdale and in discussions with clients across industries about what’s needed to achieve a low-carbon economy, these five action steps and reforms were top of mind:
Supportive government policy and leadership to advance the transition. Policy that promotes favorable economic conditions to make the transition viable is a critical first step for clients. This includes government leadership via mandates, incentives or subsidies to support jobs and investment in the transition; actions on permitting and interconnection reform; and regulatory clarity and certainty, especially around long-term investments. As one vital example, current grid infrastructure is insufficient to accommodate the growth in renewables.
Public/private partnerships in scaling bankable projects. Scaling investments needs to happen both for commercially proven technologies (e.g., wind and solar) and for emerging technologies (e.g., green hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel and carbon capture). Developing “bankable” clean energy projects will require the application of smart financial tools, as well as further policy support. It will take public/private partnerships and innovation to create catalytic forms of capital that can step into these gaps, absorb first-mover risks and provide the necessary funding. The cost of capital is too high for some companies — and public funds ought to be deployed in a smart way that effectively attracts private capital.
Public education and engagement. Without question, clients told us that public commitment to and investment in energy-related infrastructure is one of the most important parts of combating the climate crisis and running their businesses. Supporting the buildout of energy-related infrastructure with speed and scale is critical. Public acceptance of building and advancing the infrastructure needed to meet climate goals is at the heart of progress. While the energy transition is poised to deliver benefits to communities across the world, securing acceptance and support to build clean energy infrastructure at scale is challenging. Access to job-creating renewable energy projects can help rural communities thrive by advancing local economies. Ensuring public support and social license to operate requires better engagement strategies, including widespread stakeholder education about the benefits of these technologies for local communities.
We don't have to read far between the lines to see what Jamie really wants:
He wants to be a Robin Hood alter ego who leads a band of thieves committed to stealing $5 trillion per year from ratepayers and taxpayers — ordinary consumers — to meet completely phony climate goals that have no basis in reality.
He wants government to create the conditions for the theft.
He wants government money to be invested in private projects so as to make them bankable, another way of saying they can only be profitable with subsidies if public/private partnerships, where the investment to make them work comes from consumers and the profits go to Jamie and his disciples.
He wants government to finance and distribute the propaganda to convince you the greatest scam in history is really a glorious opportunity for yourself.
Yes, Jamie is a charmer and he hopes to suck the remaining lifeblood out of our country before foreclosing on our assets and moving on with creating a new world order he and his friends strictly control. He's only mouthing words we like so as to distract us and because he realizes Joe Biden (Barrack Obama in elder drag) forgot the lesson on how to boil frogs and went too far and much too fast.
#Dimon #JamieDimon #JPMorgan #Climate #LNG