Source: Washington Post
by Matthew Lynn
“He was saving the bond market. Or laying the groundwork for a new currency system. Or rescuing a major bank from imminent collapse. The internet has plenty of wild theories about why Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent intervened in currency markets to prop up the value of the Japanese yen on Friday after it hit a 40-year low. Yet the real explanation is probably a lot simpler — and, unfortunately, a lot more worrying. … Bessent is a hedge fund guy. More specifically, he is a Soros Fund Management guy. He worked there through the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, and the firm’s bet against the British pound earned $1 billion a few years earlier. Big currency bets are what he does best. In effect, he is playing the currency market because, well, that is what you do.” (08/06/26)