Comparing JPMorgan to the Chinese Communist Party is bold and hubristic. Despite his later regrets for boasting that his bank will “last longer”, CEO Jamie Dimon may have had a point. What do you think?

One is a posh Wall Street bank run by the same individual for 16 years. The other is a 95m-strong institution with an eight-year-old ruler. The first stems from two-century-old lenders. The second is turning 100.

Both are well-liked. This year, about 220,000 applicants competed for 3,000 spots in the bank’s summer intern programs, out of a total of 2.8 million applications for jobs needing experience. In 2019, the CCP received 19 million membership applications, an increase of a fifth over the previous decade.

JPMorgan wins in terms of diversity; women make up more over half of the workforce, but just 28% of the top positions. White people make up less than half of the workforce. The CCP continues to be a mostly homogeneous grouping of die-hard (and frequently haired) party members. Women make up little over a quarter of the population. Only a few of them occupy any of the top 130 positions.

There are differences in other areas as well. JPMorgan is emphasizing talents above academic credentials; in 2019, more than three-quarters of positions needing experience in the United States did not require a degree. Half of the CCP’s members, however, have mortar boards on their heads.

Some of the levers of power and money are in the hands of the universal bank. JPMorgan Chase has a market capitalization of slightly under $500 billion, and Dimon freely and publicly expresses his views on national issues such as immigration and health care.

“Government is increasingly dysfunctional, leading to a number of policies that simply don’t work,” he informed shareholders last year. He also shared views on China and “autocratic and authoritative leadership”.

But, aside from the Party, none of this is worth a bean. China’s stock market is mostly controlled by the government; financial institution interests alone are worth multiples of JPMorgan. It has control over a $16 trillion economy, a quarter of which is created by state-owned firms, and 1.4 billion people.

The Pentagon is astounded by its scientific and technological capability. One thing is certain. After Dimon’s remark, JPMorgan’s prospects in China have taken a step backwards.

Image Credit: Getty

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