What Jamie Dimon didn't tell you on 'Meet the Press'

[steve2470]

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-mo-dimon-sunday-20120512,0,6700867.story

Without even waiting a decent interval for mourning, JPMorgan Chase Chairman Jamie Dimon launched his defense campaign over the disclosure that he presided over a $2-billion trading loss in derivatives within days of the disclosure itself, choosing the comforting confines of NBC's "Meet the Press" for the campaign kick-off.

Dimon’s theme was essentially as follows: "Hey, everybody makes mistakes -- sure, we lost $2 billion, but we've still got billions more, and we'll figure out this one ourselves without the need for any further regulations, thank you."

His argument is plainly designed to distract from the right way to think about JPM's fiasco, which is that it's exactly the sort of thing that regulations should forbid banks from doing, lest they destroy the financial system -- again.

Dimon certainly showed supreme skill in choosing his venue. In "Meet the Press" host David Gregory he had a questioner who is expert in the honored television tradition of taking interviewees at their own level of self-esteem. Also someone who is so clueless about how banks and investment markets work that he hasn’t got the slightest idea of what questions to ask, much less how to follow up on an answer.

[russspeakeasy]

1. How does Mr. Gregory keep his job ? I have yet to see him

challenge anyone's answer to anything. Chuck Todd is the same. Is it a "direction" that MSNBC wants to take, or aren't they paying attention ?

[gratuitous]

6. You have grasped the point perfectly

David Gregory keeps his job because he doesn't challenge anyone's answers. It's a feature of a David Gregory interview, not a bug. Yeah, there was a time when Gregory was interested in being a journalist. He even caught a little flack for asking the president of France a question in French during a joint press conference with the Dim Son. George W. Bush carefully explained to David Gregory the error of his ways in front of everyone. Gregory got the point, and now he hosts Meet the Press and gets paid a very nice salary to do so.

[grasswire]

2. too bad Dimon hasn't been questioned by Eliot Spitzer

That I would like to see.

[tblue37]

4. Or Rachel Maddow. nt

[monmouth]

3. I'm glad Elizabeth Warren came out early expressing he should quit or be fired....n/t

[JDPriestly]

5. Amen. Elizabeth Warren is a courageous woman.