Scott Bessent's message to the G20
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arriving for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. Photo: Allison Joyce / AFP via Getty Images.
The globe's top economic policymakers gather in the mountains at a shaky period for the global economy, with the Iran conflict driving up energy prices, trade tensions running high and governments facing huge debt loads.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's message to the world: The way through is stronger growth.
What they're saying: Bessent pointed to the U.S. economy as a model, arguing that deregulation and policies aimed at boosting private-sector growth should be more broadly embraced by G20 nations.
- "The only way for us to get out of this is to grow our way out of it," Bessent told reporters Monday. "I'm confident that a lot of the leaders are very receptive to this."
Between the lines: Bessent put growth at the center of the U.S. G20 agenda, calling for reducing regulation, addressing global trade imbalances and improving debt restructuring for struggling countries.
Zoom out: Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh, returning to the G20 as a Fed official for the first time since the financial crisis, said the economic debate has changed.
- "Secular stagnation" and a "global savings glut" — two themes that dominated during his last stint at the Fed — no longer describe the world economy, he said.
- "I've said previously that inflation is a choice. What I'll add to the discussions today ... is growth is a choice, too."
What to watch: The tensions shaping the global economy were on full display, as the U.S. wages a trade war with some of its closest partners while pressing them to help economically isolate Iran.
- Bessent cheered support for the additional economic pressure on Iran signaled by the EU.
- As Bessent spoke to reporters, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne was nearby after telling international reporters that Canada's economy was doing fine amid an escalating trade fight with the U.S.
What we're hearing: In remarks seen first by Axios, Bessent brought that growth agenda directly to a room of top U.S. executives, calling for lighter financial regulation and a bigger private-sector role in shaping policy.
The bottom line: "The world economy is a little bit like the weather in Asheville — it's unpredictable, it's foggy and we hope it will clear up by the end of the day, " French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told reporters this morning. (By early afternoon, the sun had come out.)
