Treasury Secretary Bessent’s Yen Defense Is a Risky Innovation

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s decision to join Japan in supporting the yen was the first joint intervention of its kind for decades and took investors by surprise. There’s a respectable case for such cooperation: The US and Japan can both benefit, at least for a while. But the policy fails to tackle the underlying problem and could easily backfire — not least by drawing the Federal Reserve into exchange-rate policy at an especially awkward moment.