Bessent Is Reverting to His Hedge Fund Ways With Argentina

You can take the man out of the hedge fund, but you can’t take the hedge fund out of the man. As I’ve mentioned here before, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — a long-time asset manager who made a living placing bets on foreign currencies — has taken his taste for speculation with him to the US government. In his management of Treasury issuance, he’s leaned into short-dated bills on a wager that rates will drop in the months or years to come. And now he’s getting American taxpayers invested in the future of Argentina, a notorious macroeconomic basketcase.

Could Bessent use his experience for the benefit of a regional political ally with limited costs to America? Perhaps. But his gamble is not without risk, and looks extremely unbecoming of a US Treasury secretary.