A prominent economist is challenging U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s claims about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff war on Americans’ ability to access goods in stores and online.
Bessent, a hedge fund manager and Trump donor and fundraiser, was asked on Monday if he’s worried about the possibility of empty shelves.
“Not at present,” Bessent told Fox News. “We have some great retailers. I assume they preordered.”
Appearing to mock Bessent, Wolfers paraphrased the Treasury Secretary: “If I hurt the American consumer enough, we’ll see how quickly the Chinese want to deescalate.”
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“Well,” Wolfers continued, “I’m not sure which side’s meant to be looking out for us right now,” he told MSNBC’s Katy Tur.
“Bessent might be right to say that shelves aren’t going to be empty,” Wolfers explained, “but the reason that would be is, if we have less stuff coming into the country and we’re not making more stuff, the only way that the shelves don’t empty is if the prices go up.”
“So, I think at this point, any economist is forecasting, either the shelves empty or the prices go up a lot. I’m actually in camp prices go up, but these are two pretty terrible flavors.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Wolfers appeared to mock several top members of the Trump administration.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “says he’s relying on Bessent to get a deal done with China, but on Sunday Bessent said he didn’t know whether or how often Trump has been calling Chinese President Xi, and Trump said he’s calling, but Xi said he’s not getting through,” Wolfers explained before asking, “Is anyone working on this?”
Watch the video below or at this link.
Here's what Treasury Secretary Bessent is saying: "If I hurt the American consumer enough, we'll see how quickly the Chinese want to escalate." pic.twitter.com/6aPiUxpx8h
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) April 29, 2025
