Down the Rabbit Hole

Bessent and the Currency of Wonderland

As we’ve covered before in articles about Scott Bessent, he was initially regarded as the “smart guy” in the Cabinet; one who knew something about money. Well, he tarnished that reputation when he started trying to wrangle the bond market, which we covered in “Back In The Saddle - Cowboy Bessent Trading Bonds.”

Now, even the most uneducated lump on a log knows he’s gone down the rabbit hole, chasing Trump. In testimony regarding Trump’s promise to send $5,000 checks to all US adults if the Republicans win the midterms, Bessent said:

“I believe that there are ways to do it without increasing the debt or deficit. I’m not ready to discuss it at present, but at Treasury, we’ve been working on it for quite a while.”

Let’s see… What would Alice say about this?

In Lewis Carroll’s sequel, the White Queen boasts she’s believed “as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Alice protests that it’s no use – “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” the Queen tells her.

Bessent seems to have had plenty of practice, - after all, “we’ve been working on it for quite a while.”

It is called “magical thinking.” Money from nothing. Free money. If it isn’t coming from the US Treasury - and the Treasury is $40 trillion in the hole - where’s it coming from?

Putin can’t help - Russia’s broke as well; and Musk is unlikely to donate the more than trillion dollars needed to fund that promise.

Bessent made that claim to the House Financial Services Committee on September 15th - the same day the ten-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007, and the same week he told the same committee that Washington needs to curb the deficit.

Apparently, the deficit only needs curbing until there’s some way to use the Treasury to influence an election.

So where does the $5,000 come from? Nowhere Bessent’s named, and nowhere real. It’s a number conjured for a midterm campaign, the kind of thing that sounds good right up until somebody asks how.

Down the rabbit hole we go - and Bessent, grinning like the Cheshire Cat, isn’t about to tell us the way back out.

Sources

● Mediaite – “Bessent Straight Up Claims Trump’s $5K Checks Can Go Out Without Adding to the Debt” (Rep. Vargas’s exchange with Bessent and the exact quote used in this piece): https://www.mediaite.com/politics/bessent-straight-up-claims-trumps-5k-checks-can-go-out-without-adding-to-the-debt/

● 24/7 Wall St – “As U.S. National Debt Passes $40 Trillion, Bessent Says There Are Ways To Send Trump’s $5,000 Checks ‘Without Increasing The Debt Or Deficit’” (the $40 trillion debt figure): https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/09/15/as-u-s-national-debt-passes-40-trillion-bessent-says-there-are-ways-to-send-trumps-5000-checks-without-increasing-the-debt-or-deficit/

● Semafor – “US 10-year yield hits highest level since 2007” (the yield milestone hit the same day as Bessent’s testimony): https://www.semafor.com/article/09/15/2026/us-10-year-yield-hits-highest-level-since-2007

● The Globe and Mail – “Bessent defends Trump’s economic policies, acknowledges need to curb deficit” (Bessent’s own admission that the deficit needs curbing): https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-scott-bessent-us-bond-yields-global-issues-deficit/