Intervening in financial markets is a fool’s game. And yet many seem incapable of internalising that lesson. So it is with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as he seeks to manipulate currency and bond markets.

Bessent has the most consequential markets in his crosshairs. In targeting the foreign-exchange market, he is going after the world’s largest and most liquid financial market. According to the Bank for International Settlements’ latest triennial survey, over-the-counter foreign-exchange turnover reached $9.6 trillion per day in April 2025. Daily trading volume in Bessent’s other target, the $31.5 t...