Here is what a treasury secretary is supposed to do: work to demystify what is being done with Americans’ money, answer why Wall Street and the Fed do what they do, and why it should matter to us. If anything remains a financial mystery, it’s what happens at the Federal Reserve. Does Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his over 2,300 staffers use spreadsheets, market trends, an abacus, or tea leaves to set rates? Because from the financial novice or illiterate (raising my hand), their decisions come off as arbitrary, political, or both.
As opposed to the former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who maintained the status quo and pontificated on abortion and climate change instead of actual finances, it is heartening to know that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sees what the rest of us see. Bessent appeared on CNBC’s “National Report” and stated he had plans to review the role of the agency and whether it still has any relevance in how the American economy works. Bessent said, “What we need to do is examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful.”
If the past four years are any indication, they have not. Under the Biden administration, the Federal Reserve worked to deny that inflation was happening at all, then that it wasn’t really harming American capital and productivity.
Under the Trump administration, the Federal Reserve is now demonizing the gains made through tariffs and lowered inflation while actively working to stall the progress of the administration policies. So, if a successful businessman and financial mind like Bessent holds the same viewpoint as Joe and Jill American, then it helps us to see that we are not as dumb as the prior administration thought we were.