JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Says a ‘Bond Crisis’ Is Coming

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon is warning investors that rising government debt levels could trigger a crisis in the bond market.

As such, Dimon is urging U.S. policymakers to act before markets get upended by a debt crisis that shakes the global economy. Dimon made the comments in response to a question about whether he was worried about rising levels of government debt.

“The way it’s going now, there will be some kind of bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it,” said Dimon at an investment conference held by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. “I’m not that worried 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,” he added.

U.S. Government Debt Levels

The total U.S. federal government debt currently stands at $39 trillion. Interest payments on the debt have averaged $21 billion a month over the past year. Dimon, who runs the world’s largest bank by market capitalization, said that failing to address the debt pressures today will increases the odds that adjustment comes after upheaval rather than deliberate policy moves.

“The level of things that are adding to the risk column are high, like geopolitics, oil, government deficits,” said Dimon at the conference. “They may go away, but they may not, and we don’t know what confluence of events causes the problem.”