In a recent address at the CEO Speaker Series hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, shared some insightful thoughts on America’s arms manufacturing capacity:
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on the lack of arms manufacturing capacity in the US:
We did not have productive capability to double or triple our Patriot missile production. No one’s willing to pay for it.
No cars were built in America in 1942, ’43, ’44, ’45.
We did build… pic.twitter.com/HwRjD00Z6A
— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 27, 2026
It’s quite ironic that after profiting from the deindustrialization of America for decades—a process that devastated countless lives—Dimon now highlights the challenges of maintaining American dominance without sufficient weaponry. The notion that no one is willing to finance these endeavors seems misguided when the U.S. government spends over a trillion annually on defense. The real issue lies in the outsourcing of our manufacturing knowledge and capabilities. While Dimon reminisces about America’s capacity as the Arsenal of Democracy, the reality is that many in the elite have turned their backs on the nation.
Interestingly, their own greed may be the impetus for them to reconsider their extractive approaches. However, before we delve into the current state of America’s industrial decline, let’s take a quick journey back in time.
Thirty-Plus Years at the American Auction House
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, JP Morgan initiated a “Sons and Daughters” program aimed at bribing Chinese officials by hiring their unqualified relatives. This scheme facilitated the handover of American industrial assets to China.
Who was leading JP Morgan during this period? If you guessed Jamie Dimon, you’d be correct—he took the helm in 2006, and the program was broadened in 2009.
Why did JP Morgan pursue this? Back when China was seen as a lucrative market rather than an adversary, they represented an attractive opportunity to offload America’s most valuable assets.
Dimon’s sudden awareness of the issue is commendable, though it’s worth noting that others identified it more than two decades ago. Analysts like Matt Stoller and Lukas Kunce warned us about the impending breakdown within the defense sector seven years back. According to an article in The American Conservative:
When Wall Street targeted the commercial industrial base in the 1990s, similar financial trends infiltrated the defense sector. Financial pressures shifted focuses from technological innovation to balance sheet management. Consequently, several major firms have never produced defense products; instead, they create monopolies leveraging national security for profit.
One of the ways this manipulation occurred—facilitating external control over the U.S.—was by relocating the supply chain to low-cost origins like China:
In the mid-1990s, two sons-in-law of Xiaoping approached investment banker Archibald Cox, Jr. to use his hedge fund as a guise for acquiring the U.S. rare-earth magnet industry. They succeeded, relocating jobs, manufacturing, patents, and expertise to China. This shift mirrors efforts similar to those of Huawei, resulting in U.S. divestment from a market it once dominated.
Today, China possesses a near-complete monopoly on rare earth elements, and studies show the U.S. military is now entirely reliant on China for the materials needed to create advanced weaponry.
Wall Street’s disproportionate influence over defense contracting ensures that foreign adversaries can penetrate American financial institutions, thereby affecting our defense capabilities.
During a 2018 Armed Services Committee hearing, Representative Carol Shea-Porter noted a persistent clash between financial interests and patriotic duties throughout her tenure. She recounted a CEO’s dismissal of her concerns about outsourcing defense industry components, stating he “[has] to answer to stockholders.”
Who are these stockholders? Often, they are foreign entities, including those from China. Jennifer M. Harris, an expert on global markets, has highlighted a recent surge in Chinese investments in American tech firms. Her research indicates that China has systematically targeted U.S. investments in technology, particularly in semiconductors and advanced manufacturing.
The trend escalated until tensions between the U.S. and China flared. “China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in the U.S. increased by 800% between 2009 and 2015,” Harris noted. Furthermore, from 2015 to 2017, “Chinese FDI in the U.S. … surged nearly four-fold, reaching around $45.6 billion in 2016, a substantial jump from just $12.8 billion in 2014.”
Cross-border capital flows that traditionally favored the U.S. are undergoing radical shifts. The past year has reversed the trend, growing so sufficiently that it merits recognition as a structural change rather than a fleeting occurrence. Several deals, such as Mitsubishi Corp.’s $7.5 billion acquisition of Aethon Energy, reflect this shift.
As the geopolitical landscape transforms, we find Dimon and other elite figures realizing that their grip on the world is diminishing. While it’s easy to take pleasure in their predicament, it’s crucial to remember that countless American workers have suffered due to these misguided decisions. The technological strength once harnessed for the betterment of society has been squandered primarily for the short-term profits of a privileged few.
While the powerful may face newfound challenges in leveraging state force for their gains, this shift is a refreshing change. The hope is that their greed and shortsightedness ultimately lead to their decline. And when that time arrives, it will be vital to recognize that they brought this upon themselves.
