… the chancellor of Syracuse University had Jamie Dimon give the 2010 commencement address. She defended her decision by saying:
It is rare that a university is able to bring a speaker with a birds-eye view of, and extensive on-the-ground experience with, a major global challenge.
Now that Dimon’s irresponsibility has produced a globally destructive two billion dollar loss at his massive bank, UD thinks it’s time for Chancellor Cantor to invite him back. Thanks to her, Syracuse already has the distinction of having been the only American university to honor this man in this way; and if her criterion for the choice of speaker continues to be someone who has immediate experiences of major global challenges, the choice of Dimon is better than ever. His bank has just created a major global challenge.
Maybe she should have invited Simon Johnson instead. He certainly had useful things to tell her.
Meanwhile, Syracuse can take pride in the fact that it did its small bit to encourage Jamie Dimon to “preen and flash along … until [his] hubris causes the next [financial] disaster.”
May 12th, 2012 at 2:22AM
Why do people consider Jamie Dimon to be "The Toughest Guy on Wall Streets;?
May 12th, 2012 at 4:10AM
@wallpaper
i) who cares why? it’s all absurdist crap
ii) that statement was made in Fortune Mag in 2006 – i.e. before the crash of 2008 – an event which ought to have caused much reflection on whether popular understanding of The Street was accurate in any way shape or form.
If you are making sincere inquiry (as opposed to snark at Dimon’s expense, which I can appreciate as well), interesting discussions of the financial sector are found in many places on the web. I’d recommend nakedcapitalism.com, sometimes zerohedge.com, often creditwritedowns.com, and anything by Janet Tavakoli to name just a few.