Jamie Dimon Says Inflation Could 'Derail The Economy' And Cause A Recession In 2023 As Rising Prices Cannibalize Consumer Savings

When JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM CEO Jamie Dimon issues a warning about the economy, people tend to listen. He did just that Tuesday morning on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

What To Know: Dimon spoke favorably about the current standing of consumers and businesses, noting that consumers currently have $1.5 trillion in savings and are spending more than they did in 2021. 

The U.S. economy is currently the strongest economy in the world, but there's a problem, he said. The relative strength of the consumer won't last much longer if inflation continues to run hot.

"Inflation is eroding everything I just said, and that trillion and a half dollars will run out sometime mid-year next year. And so when you’re looking out forward, those things may very well derail the economy and cause a mild or hard recession that people worry about," Dimon said.

The JPMorgan CEO told CNBC that interest rates are headed to 5%. His comments come after the Federal Reserve raised rates in November by 0.75% for the fourth straight time, bringing its target fed funds rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%.

Even if the Fed hikes to 5%, it still may not be enough to tackle inflation, Dimon said. 

See Also: Rate Cuts May Not Come Anytime Soon, Cramer Says: 'Fed's Not Going To Stop Tightening Until…'

This isn't the first time the JPMorgan CEO has issued an economic warning. In June, Dimon said he was preparing the bank for an "economic hurricane," citing a lot of the same problems, including inflation and rising rates. 

At the time, Dimon predicted the S&P 500 could fall another 20% from where it was trading at around 4,150. The S&P was down more than 1% at 3,954 at the time of publication on Tuesday. 

The SPDR S&P 500 SPY, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the underlying S&P 500 index, is down approximately 16.5% since the start of the year and about 4% over the last six months.

JPM Price Action: JPMorgan has a 52-week high of $169.81 and a 52-week low of $101.28.

The stock was up 0.31% at $131.79 at time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Steve Jurvetson from flickr.