Alexander Hamilton got it right when he said that every US Treasury secretary after him would be plagued by the prospect of weary creditors questioning the strength of American debt. Investors the world-over prize stability and predictability from the most significant economy, and whoever holds the job can expect every word they say to be scrutinized. “Opinion is the soul of it,” Hamilton once wrote. The histrionics matter.
Even in the best of times, the job calls for serving as the steward of the US economy and the chief advocate for the president’s economic vision — goals that are sometimes at odds. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent faces an especially tenuous version of this balancing act. He is both the face of the unpredictable Trump administration’s economic agenda, and America’s chief bond salesman, tasked with maintaining investors’ faith in the $29 trillion Treasury market. Right now, US President Donald Trump is playing chicken with the very ideals that have made American bonds so special: predictable economic growth, stability and the ability to manage an economic crisis. Can Bessent find a way to keep both markets and the president happy?
