Trump Nominates Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary Amid Economic Policy Shifts Image Source: Treasury.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 22, 2024 - President -elect Donald Trump proposed Scott Bessent, an experienced hedge fund manager and founder of Key Square Capital Management, to be the next Treasury Secretary. Bensent, 62, previously held the position of Investment Director in Soros Fund Management, where he gained importance by leading profitable monetary bets against the pound sterling and the Japanese yen.
In announcing the nomination, Trump welcomed Bessent’s alignment with the first US program, saying that Bessent would help us create a ”new golden age” for the United States by strengthening its position as world economic leader and maintaining the US dollar as a global reserve currency. Bessent’s role will be to advise the President on economic and fiscal issues, including expenditure and tax policies.
Besent has been an advocate for deregulation, tax cuts and national debt, which allocates “four years of reckless spending”. In a recent opinion article in Wall Street Journal, he interpreted the post-election increase in the US dollar as a vote of confidence in American leadership and the state of the dollar as a world reserve currency. He stressed that these market movements indicate the expectations of non-inflationary growing investors motivated by private investment.
Despite Trump’s campaign promises to impose significant tariffs on imports, Bessent noted its support for a more measured approach to trade policies. In interviews with the Financial Times and the CNBC, he suggested that aggressive tariff rates could lead to inflationary pressures and called for gradual implementation to mitigate potential economic shocks.
If the Senate confirms this, Bessent will face immediate challenges, including the federal debt limit, and work to expand the provisions of the Income Tax and Employment Reduction Act that expire at the end of 2025. Its responsibilities will also include monitoring Treasury Department activities such as tax collection, debt issuance and financial regulation, as well as the relationship between the White House and global financial markets.
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