There’s a story going around Wall Street that the Treasury Department is trying to help Democratic candidates in November by how it issues debt.
I don’t buy it.
Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager who has raised money for Donald Trump’s campaign, told me last week that he thinks Janet Yellen, the current Treasury secretary, is an “apparatchik” for the White House whose behavior is “appalling.”Nouriel Roubini, a well-known economist who describes himself as a lifelong Democrat, isn’t as harsh as Bessent, but he told me he thinks the Treasury Department is inappropriately engaging in a kind of monetary policy, which is the purview of the Federal Reserve.
“The Fed is in charge of managing the business cycle,” he said.
“Treasury doesn’t have that mandate.”I’ll explain why I think Bessent, Roubini and others are barking up the wrong tree, but first I’ll lay out their argument.
Persons:
Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s, Janet Yellen, ”, Nouriel, isn’t
Organizations:
Treasury Department, Democratic, White, Department, Federal Reserve, Treasury
Locations:
Roubini