As stocks tumble, with the stock market experiencing its worst week in two years, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that Americans—who aren’t billionaires like him—might soon begin suffering as the economy transitions into President Donald Trump’s privatized fantasy.
“Could we be seeing that in this economy that we inherited? Starting to roll a bit? Sure. And look, there's going to be a natural adjustment as we move away from public spending to private spending. The market and the economy have just become hot. And we become addicted to this government spending. And there's going to be a detox period,” Bessent said during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
When pressed about the “temporary pain” Americans might feel during this “detox period,” Bessent doubled down on privatization efforts.
“Well, look, there's an adjustment. We'll see whether there's pain. What we are trying to do—I talked about it at the Economic Club of New York yesterday—we are trying to transition from public to private,” he said.
Bessent was referring to his interview with icky Larry Kudlow of Fox News, during which he lauded the Trump administration’s plans to “re-leverage the private sector” by “cutting regulation [and] making the tax policy permanent.”
Despite obvious evidence, Bessent has denied that Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is dismantling the government.
Meanwhile, the Treasury is being sued by federal workers for allowing DOGE to access their personal information in violation of privacy laws. In response, Bessent has offered up little more than a generalized claim that “deregulation” and “government waste” will create a stronger economy.
But for who, exactly? Bessent never specifies, but he’s on the record opposing minimum wage increases and seems unconcerned with workers’ rights.
As long as billionaires like him make a profit, who cares if the economy goes to hell?
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