Inside the institution powering better policy and business decisions

A message from: JPMorganChase

After the 2008 financial crisis, decisionmakers in the public, private and nonprofit sectors lacked the critical economic information they needed to navigate challenges and opportunities.
- That's why JPMorganChase created the JPMorganChase Institute.
Why it's important: Over the past 10 years, the JPMorganChase Institute has provided timely, actionable, data-driven research and insights to help leaders make better, evidence-based decisions.
- The Institute has also advanced JPMorganChase's commitment to catalyzing broad-based economic growth.
💬 "Since our first report in 2015, we have delivered unique insights on household financial outcomes, the health of small businesses, important housing market dynamics, and changing investing patterns," said Chris Wheat, President of the JPMorganChase Institute, at the Institute's 10-year anniversary celebration in D.C.
Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, also in attendance, reinforced the importance of leveraging private sector data to complement government statistics and provide a more comprehensive understanding of economic conditions.
- He emphasized that the vast amount of data available from various sources — including proprietary data from JPMorganChase — plays an essential role in informing policy decisions.
Some highlights: The Institute's research has helped shape vital economic conversations across government, business, and nonprofit stakeholders by…
💵 Offering insights into household finances.
The Institute's insights have been important to assessing the state of the economy and anticipating economic downturns and have helped policymakers better evaluate key issues, including:
- The emergence of the online platform economy.
- The impact of unemployment insurance.
- How households manage student debt.
- The growing exposure of households to cryptocurrency and retail investor markets.
🛍️ Shedding light on the health of small businesses.
The Institute has unique access to granular data on small business finances.
- By examining cash flow patterns and liquidity, this research has helped shape policies that support small business growth and resilience.
🏡 Uncovering features of the housing market.
A well-functioning housing market is critical, especially because housing is a substantial asset on many household balance sheets.
- Institute research has given decisionmakers a distinctive view by linking housing market outcomes with granular changes in household liquidity, income and spending.
- Policymakers have used these insights to evaluate federal mortgage modification programs during the Great Recession, understand the importance of cash on hand in determining mortgage default and more.
📊 Providing a trusted fact base during uncertain times.
During COVID-19, the Institute's proprietary data offered timely insights into household spending and liquidity, small business financial health, and the impact of government relief programs like the Paycheck Protection Program.
- The research proved critical to policymakers and businesses navigating uncharted water, helping to identify sectors most in need of support and informing targeted interventions that maximized relief efforts.
Looking ahead: In the coming decade, American consumers, homeowners, business owners and investors will face a host of economic challenges — and trusted data will remain essential to understanding the landscape.
- Over the next year, the Institute is expanding its work to include more frequent data-backed insights and commentary about the state of the U.S. economy, as well as new research on products and policies relevant to middle market firms.
- The Institute will also continue to partner with Axios on the Zoom In Series, which delivers insights to spur broad-based economic growth in local communities across the country.