Jamie Dimon blows up at Washington on earnings call

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon expressed frustration at the U.S. federal government during the company's earnings conference call Friday.

"It's almost an embarrassment being an American citizen traveling around the world and listening to the stupid s--- we have to deal with in this country," Dimon said in response to an analyst question.

"Since the Great Recession, which is now 8 years old, we've been growing at 1.5 to 2 percent in spite of stupidity and political gridlock, because the American business sector is powerful and strong," he said. "What I'm saying is it would be much stronger growth had we made intelligent decisions and were there not gridlock."

The executive of the U.S. banking giant cited travels to countries such as France, Argentina, Israel and Ireland. The U.S. has become "one of the most bureaucratic, confusing, litigious societies on the planet" and "it's hurting the average American that we don't have these right policies," he said.

Earlier Friday, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported earnings that handily beat Wall Street estimates. However, the bank lowered its forecast for lending revenue.

Shares traded 1.8 percent lower Friday morning.

Despite the Republican majority in Congress, Washington has been caught in gridlock over a new health care bill, which is seen as a precursor to passing new legislation on tax reform. The Senate this week cut short its August recess by two weeks in order to deal with the debate.

In response to a separate question, Dimon said government regulation on banks was preventing economic growth, by keeping certain home buyers and small startups from getting funding.

"The counterfactual would have been that a trillion dollars or 2 trillion would have been lent out had these rules been changed five years ago," he said. "There's a false notion that all this stuff didn't hold back the economy. Yes, it did."

Here's most of the full rant:

Since the Great Recession, which is now 8 years old, we've been growing at 1.5 

to 2 percent in spite of stupidity and political gridlock. Because the American
business sector is powerful and strong, and is going to grow regardless
of — people wake up in the morning, they want to feed their kids, they want
to buy a home, they want to do things, the same with American businesses
— what I'm saying is it would be much stronger growth had we made intelligent
decisions and were there not gridlock. And thank you for pointing it out because I'm going
to be a broken record until this gets done. We are unable to build bridges, we're unable
to build airports, our inner city school kids are not graduating. I was just in France, I was
recently in Argentina, I was in Israel, I was in Ireland. We met with the prime minister
of India and China. It's amazing to me that every single one of those countries
understands that practical policies to promote business and growth is good for
the average citizens of those countries, for jobs and wages, and that somehow this
great American free enterprise system, we no longer get it. Corporate taxation is critical
to that, by the way. We've been driving capital earnings overseas, which is why there's
$2 trillion overseas benefiting all these other countries and stuff like that. So if we don't
get our act together — we can still grow. It's unfortunate, but it's hurting us, it's hurting
the body politic, it's hurting the average American that we don't have these right
policies. So no, in spite of gridlock we'll grow at maybe 1.5 or 2 percent. I don't buy
the argument that we're relegated to this forever. We're not. If this administration
can make breakthroughs in taxes and infrastructure, regulatory reform —we have
become one of the most bureaucratic, confusing, litigious societies on the planet.
It's almost an embarrassment being an American citizen traveling around the world
and listening to the stupid s--- we have to deal with in this country. And at one point
we all have to get our act together or we won't do what we're supposed to [do] for
the average Americans. And unfortunately people write about this saying like it's
for corporations. It's not for corporations. Competitive taxes are important for business
and business growth, which is important for jobs and wage growth. And honestly
we should be ringing that alarm bell, every single one of you, every time you talk to a client.

CNBC
Evelyn Cheng