Bessent’s Bond Betting Boast Ends Badly

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Last month Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, trying to quiet nervous investors in US bonds, boasted, “I have asymmetric information. I am the house now. Bet against me if you want.” 

About two weeks later Bessent conceded on CNBC’s Squawk Box that, “I can’t set the equilibrium price.” Meaning that he recognized his inability to direct the bond market. Thirty-year Treasury yields reached levels not seen since the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Bessent, like the entire Trump Cabinet, is struggling to put lipstick on the pig of the crumbling economy. They rely on tricks, lies, and deflection to try to convince voters that we’re in a new golden age. 

In reality, this disastrous situation was created by Donald Trump’s perverse policies: 

• An illegal war in Iran killing people and destabilizing supplies of oil, diesel, fertilizers, and other commodities.
• Deportation of immigrants with legal status who are contributing to the economy and taxes.
• Crazy illegal tariffs that are changed every couple of months, driving up the cost of everything.
• The massive transfer of wealth to the Trump family and their supporters.
• Encouraging an AI-driven stock market bubble that will most likely crash in the final two years of the Trump presidency.

All of this is increasing the national debt and ruining the Full Faith and Credit of the United States. No one trusts us anymore. 

As Rick Wilson wrote and many have echoed, “Everything Trump touches dies.” Bessent’s reputation will never recover from his association with Trump. It will take decades to rebuild our economy and restore our reputation, thanks to sycophants like Scott Bessent. 

While you’re here enjoying DonkeyHotey’s latest cartoon, please take a moment to read these articles on related topics: 

• The Bond Market Always Gets the Final Vote
• At the White House, Super Intelligence Is in Short Supply
• Other DonkeyHotey cartoons

The cartoon above was created by DonkeyHotey for WhoWhatWhy from these images: Scott Bessent caricature (DonkeyHotey / Flickr – CC BY 4.0), casino (Kevin Wong / Wikimedia – PD), WLF (World Liberty Financial / Wikimedia), truck (Sergio Calleja (Life is a trip) / Flickr – CC BY-SA 2.0), statue (Unimatrix osm / Wikimedia – CC0 1.0), sky (Jim Vajda / Wikimedia – CC BY 2.0), eagle (Robek / Wikimedia – FAL), satellite dish (Amada44 / Wikimedia – CC BY-SA 4.0), Qatar Farce One (The White House / Wikimedia – PD), scroll  (OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay), money (Patrick Pascal Schauß / Pixabay), and building (Alex Hanson / Flickr – CC BY 2.0).