Financial Times (September 15)
“Credibility is the most precious resource a Treasury secretary has” and Scott Bessent’s has gone up in flames. “For reasons even his defenders find hard to explain, Scott Bessent has been on a credibility-spending spree. Bessent told the currency markets last week that he was ‘the house’ and warned that nobody should bet against him. But the bond markets did and he lost. What weight will traders attach to his next pronouncement?”
Tags: Bessent, Bet, Bond markets, Credibility, Currency markets, Defenders, Lost, The house, Traders, Treasury secretary, Warned
The Guardian (June 18)
“A president’s wishful thinking” is giving way to “uncomfortable realities.” This is not an unconditional surrender, vindication or victory. “The memorandum of understanding signed in Versailles lays bare US failure and the pointlessness of this illegal war…. Having squandered billions of dollars, and thousands of lives, Mr Trump is accepting less than was on offer before the conflict.” The impetuous president “bombed first and negotiated later.” As a result, “Tehran has seen its escalatory tactics succeed, while the US has undermined its own credibility.”
Tags: Billions, Bombed first, Conflict, Credibility, Failure, Illegal, Impetuous, Lives, MOU, Negotiated later, Pointlessness, Squandered, Tehran, Trump, U.S., Uncomfortable realities, Unconditional surrender, Undermined, Versailles, Wishful thinking
Newsweek (November 17)
U.S. families “are struggling to keep up with rising utility costs” amid “persistent high prices for many groceries and other items.” Rising utility debt “has developed into a significant economic and political issue, which may affect the White House administration’s credibility on affordability, especially as voters have cited cost-of-living as their top concern in recent elections.” Monthly energy bills have risen 12% between April and June of 2025, with “nearly one in 20 U.S. households now facing utility debt severe enough for collection agencies to become involved.”
Tags: Affordability, Cost of living, Credibility, Debt, Elections, Energy bills, Families, Groceries, High prices, Household, Struggling, U.S., Utility costs, Voters, White House
Bloomberg (October 31)
“Japan’s central bank insists it still wants to cap long-term market rates,” but their “actions suggest officials are losing the stomach for it.” Kazuo Ueda is dismantling “the cumbersome legacy of his predecessor… more rapidly” than expected “when he took the helm of the Bank of Japan.” Nevertheless, BOJ officials are insisting that the “policy is only being tweaked.” This threatens “the credibility of its communications” as “key parts of the BOJ’s entire approach to setting borrowing costs are being removed or watered down.”
Tags: BOJ, Cap, Central bank, Credibility, Cumbersome, Japan, Legacy, Long term, Market rates, Officials, Predecessor, Threatens, Ueda
CNN (October 19)
Even with “Trussonomics… tossed out and a total market meltdown avoided, the near-term prospects for Britain’s economy look increasingly wobbly. A recession stretching through the winter looms. Policymakers were facing tough choices even before Truss unleashed financial market chaos. Now, with the government’s credibility tarnished, they’re in an even worse predicament.”
Tags: Avoided, Britain, Chaos. Government, Credibility, Economy, Market, Meltdown, Prospects, Recession, Tarnished, Tossed out, Trussonomics, Wobbly
Bloomberg (June 15)
The Federal Reserve “must do more than raise rates by 75 points.” It needs to “regain control of the inflation narrative to avoid inflicting more economic damage and to restore its credibility.”
Tags: 75 points, Credibility, Economic damage, Fed, Inflation narrative, Raise, Rates, Regain control, Restore
Wall Street Journal (March 31)
“China’s support for Russia is the most serious but far from only reason Europe is losing patience. Beijing has launched an economic war on EU member Lithuania over its upgraded ties to Taiwan. The Chinese Communist Party’s human-rights record remains abysmal. Bullying behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic and stonewalling of the origins investigation hurt China’s credibility. The question is what Europe will do beyond condemnations, token sanctions and the occasional lawsuit.”
Tags: CCP, China, Condemnations, COVID-19, Credibility, Economic war, EU, Europe, Human rights, Lawsuits, Lithuania, Russia, Stonewalling, Taiwan, Token sanctions
Washington Post (May 30)
“Sudden policy shifts are amplifying an air of unpredictability that the president has said gives him an edge at the bargaining table, even as U.S. trading partners complain that it erodes American credibility. Adding to the confusion are divisions among Trump’s trade advisers and complaints from members of Congress, who fear that the president may be stumbling into a costly multi-front trade war.”
Tags: Advisers, Bargaining, Complaints, Confusion, Congress, Credibility, Divisions, Edge, Policy shifts, Stumbling, Trade war, Trading partners, Trump, Unpredictability
LA Times (May 10)
“The shocking dismissal of FBI Director James B. Comey by a president whose campaign he was investigating can’t be undone. The immediate priority is to safeguard the integrity of that investigation and its credibility in the eyes of the public and to preserve the evidence that has been amassed.”
Tags: Comey, Credibility, Dismissal, Evidence, FBI, Integrity, Investigation, Safeguard, Shocking
Washington Post (March 15)
“The Obama administration is moving toward what could be a dangerous showdown with China over the South China Sea…. What makes this dispute so explosive is that it pits an American president who needs to affirm his credibility as a strong leader against a risk-taking Chinese president who has shown disregard for U.S. military power and who faces potent political enemies at home.”
Tags: China, Credibility, Dangerous, Disregard, Military power, Obama, Risk-taking, Showdown, South China Sea, Strong leader, U.S.
