Scott Bessent | All-In in DC!

Podcast Notes Playlist: Business

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

Key Takeaways

• “I wanted to get involved in the campaign because I was so alarmed with what the Biden administration was doing with the debt and deficit.” – Scott Bessent
  • The US was headed for a European-style economic malaise in which the rich get richer and the everyday person gets left behind
  • The Biden administration’s economic policies were not only unfair to the everyday American but also unstable and damaging to the American dream
• The key aspects of the American Dream: Home ownership, financial security, some level of comfort, Purpose in your work, The ability to support your family, and optionality so that you do not have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet
  • In the post-World War II period, 90% of children ended up earning more than their parents; today, that figure is around 50%
• The US does not have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem
• The Trump Administration’s “3-3-3” economic strategy
  • Achieve 3% real GDP growth
  • Reduce the budget deficit to 3% of GDP by 2028
  • Increase U.S. Energy production by 3 million barrels of oil per day
• About 25% of the nation’s GDP flows through the ten-mile radius around Washington DC – and everyone in DC is trying to skim a little off the top
• “It is the Department of Government Efficiency – not government extinction, not government elimination.” – Bessent
• The second part of the plan is to reorder the international trading system and bring manufacturing jobs back to the US; this will reinvigorate the middle-class
• Everything Trump does is not always in a straight line, but he has a destination in mind
  • “He wants to create assets for the American people, not just debt.” – Scott Bessent on President Trump
  • The intention of the US Sovereign Wealth Fund: The US can get a higher return on its assets than it is currently getting
• Three other agenda items for the Trump Administration
  • 1. Low and predictable taxes
  • 2. Substantially slash regulations and increase the predictability of regulations
  • 3. Cheap energy and increased energy security
• Cheap energy and energy security help solve a lot of America’s affordability problems; we cannot be dogmatic about where solutions come from
• “He really regards himself as the mayor of America”: Trump doesn’t care if you are Elon Musk or the guy mowing the White House lawn; you are his constituent

Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org

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(0:00) Chamath and Friedberg describe their adventures in DC and welcome Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent!

(2:12) Scott's background, what drew him to equities, the role of macro investors

(7:22) The legendary trade that broke the Bank of England in 1992, and how it relates to Main Street vs Wall Street today

(21:30) Scott explains the Trump Administration's economic strategy

(32:45) How this administration plans to de-regulate the economy, Fed relationship, re-financing debt

(42:06) DOGE, DC grifts, shakeup at the IRS

(50:51) Re-engineering social security through the US SWF, how energy factors in

(1:00:02) Surprises, fixing affordability, thoughts on President Trump

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