Dimon’s $500 billion proposal opens the door to equitable mortgages
By Karen Petrou, opinion contributor
In his recent note to shareholders, Jamie Dimon includes a startling number: $500 billion more mortgage credit a year would flow if the rules recognized that many lower-income borrowers aren’t also high-risk borrowers. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cares about this in part because it wants to make these mortgages, but we should care about it because we should want JPMorgan and other regulated lenders to provide the urgently-needed loans essential for reversing U.S. economic inequality. It’s not often we find a win-win policy — more credit without more risk — but the few, easy changes that would sharply increase mortgage opportunity are an example.
