Donald Trump couldn’t ask for a better pitchman for his unorthodox stewardship of the US economy than Scott Bessent. Deregulation and cuts to government spending, along with punishing tariffs on friends and foes alike, will lead to a bonanza of growth and higher wages, the US Treasury secretary predicts in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek for September’s cover story. He even forecasts, improbably, a lower deficit. “The deficit-to-GDP [ratio] is going to be lower this year than it was last year, mark my words,” he says. “If you constrain spending, which we’re doing, and grow 3%, then the debt-to-GDP will drop.”