Jamie Dimon Should Be on Trial

JPMorgan lost $2 billion last week, and it's time for the bank's CEO to answer for it. Congressional questioning isn't enough: Jamie Dimon should be required, ideally on prime-time TV, "to answer questions plainly and clearly, to an unfriendly audience of non-Davos people," Alex Pareene writes at Salon. We could lob simple questions, like: "Wouldn’t it have been better if that $2 billion had been used for almost anything in the world besides shady mega-bank gambling that no one understands?"

Dimon could explain to "JPMorgan shareholders, unemployed people, journalists, and angry bloggers" the role of the giant bank in a "healthy and functioning" economy. He could also tell us whether he lied on his first-quarter earnings reports, or simply didn't know what was going on. If it's the latter, "Jamie, I think maybe you should consider retirement; this bank is too complicated for you," Pareene writes. Sure, Dimon will probably never admit to any wrongdoing; but at least the showdown would be "very good television." Click through for Pareene's full piece. (More Alex Pareene stories.)