Jamie Dimon Of JP Morgan: “World Is Facing Most Dangerous Time In Decades”
“The global macroeconomic and geopolitical situation means the world may be facing the most dangerous time in decades.” This was stated by CEO of the American bank J.P. Morgan Jamie Dimon.
Regarding the economic and financial situation in the USA, Dimon noted that “American consumers and businesses currently remain in good health.” However, “persistent labor market tensions and extremely high levels of public debt, as well as the largest peacetime budget deficit, increase the risk that inflation will remain high and interest rates will rise further,” emphasized the American financier, according to whom “however, we don’t yet know the long-term consequences of the war in Ukraine, in addition to the attacks on Israel last week.” Combined, these factors “could have far-reaching consequences for energy and food markets, global trade, and geopolitical relations.”
In Russia, the president of the energy company Rusenergoproekt, Maxim Kanishev, said that “some scenarios of the conflict escalation in the Middle East threaten to soar oil prices to $400 per barrel.”
“In 1973,” the Russian expert recalled, “in a similar situation, during Israel’s war against Syria and Egypt, Arab oil-producing countries, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, imposed an embargo on oil supplies to pro-Israel countries. This affected the USA, Great Britain, and Canada. The result was a quadruple increase in oil prices and the most devastating energy crisis ever.”
The alarming consequences of the deadly Hamas attack were not long in coming. Saudi Arabia “has decided to suspend negotiations on a possible normalization of relations with Israel and has informed US officials of this,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Riyadh. Moreover, “some sources close to political leaders in Riyadh” told Reuters of “a rapid rethinking of the kingdom’s foreign policy priorities.”
Riyadh’s U-turn appears to have gone much further, with the conflict apparently pushing Saudi Arabia to engage with Iran: before meeting with Blinken, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received his first telephone call from Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who had earlier stated that “all Islamic and Arab countries, as well as people who want freedom in the world, must reach an agreement and achieve cooperation towards ending the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian nation.”
Meanwhile, Blinken’s tour has involved and on Sunday, October 15, will again involve Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt. During the talks, the Secretary of State reaffirmed in the strongest possible terms America’s condemnation of terrorist attacks against Israel. “Blinken will seek to engage regional partners in efforts to prevent the spread of the conflict, ensure the immediate and safe release of hostages, and identify mechanisms to protect civilians,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, according to whom Blinken “had a telephone conversation” with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the state Secretary of the Holy See. “The Secretary of State and the Cardinal discussed their shared concerns about Hamas’ horrific terrorist attacks on Israel and the need to protect those most vulnerable,” Miller said. “Blinken thanked Cardinal Parolin for the pope’s strong statement of support for Israel, reaffirming Israel’s right to self-defense and calling for the release of the hostages,” a Washington diplomatic official said.
