Bessent's Containment and What It Cost
Ten days ago, Brent crude was $66. On Monday it touched $119.50 before settling around $93. The Nikkei 225 fell 5.2% on Monday. USD/JPY hit 159.14, one tick from what traders regard as the Ministry of Finance intervention threshold. The UST 10-year yield briefly breached 4.21% before pulling back to 4.13%. And yet the financial system did not crack. This article examines what Scott Bessent spent to keep it that way, what it reveals about the yen’s role in a crisis, and why his binding constraint — the 10-year yield — is tighter now than it was before the first missile was launched. ...