Stop Second-Guessing Jamie Dimon

The record of Jamie Dimon the CEO has been virtually snuffed out in the kerfuffle that's followed JPMorgan Chase's trading loss. The punditariat doesn't care what he's accomplished. It doesn't care that his bank was there to rescue Bear and WaMu in Uncle Sam's time of need. Interpreting Dimon has become a lot like interpreting economic indicators these days--whether they're good or bad has become a subject of spin and agenda-pushing. Neil Weinberg, Editor in Chief, American Banker.

Neil, I could not agree more with you and Mr. Keenan. The reaction to the losses, while understandable because they served to demonstrate that obvious fact that the risks inherent in modern finance and their management are a "risky business, and that JPM is just as vulnerable despite the simplistic assumption that they somehow weren't, has become a hysterical cacophony. Much more thought is needed in formulating a financial regulatory system that matches the rapidly evolving complexity of the financial markets. Unfortunately such thoughts tend to bore reporters and partisans. But then this is a larger problem for our country as a whole . . .

I applaud the comments of Mr. Keenan, Mr. Weinberg and Mr. Baxter. They represent the voices of reason that have been so lacking since JPMorgan Chase announced their $2 billion trading loss. There seems to be no end to this absurd public pile on and flogging of Jamie Dimon. Selective memory is a curious human coping skill but destructive and mis-leading in the public domain. Anyone who has ever worked under Mr. Dimon's leadership knows that he possesses a very deep and very detailed understanding the numerous forms of risk that a financial institution must manage .Regulators know this too. They relied on Jamie Dimon and JPMC to absorb Bear Stearn and Washington Mutual and do so in a way that aided the economy, not derail it further. Have our politicians, pudits and the public conveniently forgotten this? I am confident that an exhaustive root cause analysis is underway to determine the facts that caused the loss. Mr. Dimon will settle for nothing less than the truth from his staff and will be forthright with the public on what mistakes caused the loss and take accountability - however painful. But is a mistake to position Jamie Dimon as the posterchild for unmitigated greed and disregard of excessive risk. Jamie Dimon did not cause our economic meltdown. To think so, is unfairly simplistic and convenient.. There were a miriad of participants that all contributed to the worst economic collapse since The Great Depression. Yes banks played a big role in the collapse - but so did a plethora of others - ratings agencies, non-bank mortgage originators, property assessors, consumers, shareholders, regulatory overseers and even montetary policy. I am saddened to once again see the old adage about failure be realized - that failure is an orphan. And in this case, not only is it an orphan, the failure is used to further political agendas and irrationally focus all the collective anger and frustration about our economic woes on one person. I am left with two thoughts that keep running through my mind: 1) I am witnessing humanity in the free world at its worst; 2) Am I doing everything I can to prepare my sons to cope with a world that is filled with fair weather friends?