27 Apr Restoring Balance: A blueprint for U.S. and global economic renewal
By,
Dr. Rafael Marrero, President, Founder, and Chief Economist- MSI²
In April 2025, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a pivotal address at the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings, outlining a strategic vision to restore balance to the global financial system. This article analyzes the Secretary’s critical points, contextualizes them with current economic data, and supports the Trump Administration’s course correction aimed at reaffirming America’s leadership while safeguarding international economic stability.
Introduction
The Bretton Woods institutions, born from the ashes of World War II, were intended to stabilize global finance, facilitate international trade, and promote prosperity. Yet over time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have strayed from their original mandates, prioritizing political agendas over economic fundamentals.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking in April 2025, issued a clarion call to refocus these institutions on their founding missions. His remarks align with the Trump Administration’s strategic goal of defending America’s economic interests, restoring global balance, and reasserting principled leadership on the world stage.
Key Points from Secretary Bessent’s Address
Refocusing the IMF and World Bank
Secretary Bessent emphasized the urgent need for the IMF and World Bank to abandon “mission creep” and return to their core responsibilities. He criticized their growing focus on climate change, gender equity, and social issues—worthy concerns, but outside the economic mandates for which these institutions were founded (U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2025).
The IMF must renew its focus on global monetary cooperation, exchange rate stability, and balance of payments adjustments. The World Bank must recommit to economic growth, infrastructure development, and poverty alleviation. Without this realignment, Bessent warned, these institutions risk irrelevance at a time when global economic volatility demands discipline, not ideological drift.
Addressing Global Trade Imbalances
Bessent addressed the persistent and destabilizing global trade imbalances that have hollowed out the American manufacturing base. The United States recorded a $122.7 billion trade deficit in February 2025 alone (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2025). Such imbalances, he argued, are fueled by unfair foreign trade practices, non-tariff barriers, state subsidies, and currency manipulation.
China’s export-driven model remains a principal offender. In March 2025, China’s exports surged by 12.4%, further exacerbating global distortions (Reuters, 2025; New York Post, 2025). Bessent called on China and other surplus nations to shift their economies towards domestic consumption, warning that sustained overreliance on U.S. demand is not only unfair but ultimately unsustainable.
Promoting Energy Access and Economic Development
Energy security was another critical pillar of Bessent’s remarks. He stressed that access to affordable, reliable energy is indispensable to poverty reduction and industrial development. Despite years of global initiatives, approximately 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack electricity (World Bank, 2025; AP News, 2025).
The Secretary criticized the World Bank’s overemphasis on intermittent renewable energy projects and urged an “all-of-the-above” strategy. Fossil fuels, natural gas, nuclear power, and renewables coupled with storage must all play a role in achieving robust, base-load generation capacity. Energy abundance, Bessent affirmed, is synonymous with economic abundance.
Current Economic Context
U.S. Trade Deficit: A Persistent Vulnerability
Despite multiple rounds of trade negotiations and enforcement actions, the United States continues to experience chronic trade deficits, reflecting deep-seated structural imbalances in the global economy. As of February 2025, the U.S. recorded a $122.7 billion monthly goods and services trade deficit (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2025).
This trend highlights how America’s industrial base remains vulnerable to foreign subsidies, currency manipulations, and unfair trade practices. Persistent deficits drain economic vitality from critical sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and strategic supply chains, posing long-term risks to national security, wage growth, and job creation.
Moreover, as Secretary Bessent noted, the U.S. fiscal position is intertwined with these trade imbalances. An unsustainable budget deficit — currently hovering near 6% of GDP — fuels excess demand that foreign exporters exploit, compounding the external imbalance. Addressing both trade and fiscal deficits in tandem is thus a national imperative for sustainable economic security.
China’s Export-Driven Model: A Global Distortion
China’s continued reliance on manufacturing and exports as its primary engines of growth is increasingly destabilizing the global economy. In March 2025, China’s exports surged by 12.4% year-over-year, underscoring its persistent dependence on external markets (Reuters, 2025; New York Post, 2025).
Despite official rhetoric promoting a “dual circulation” economic strategy — balancing domestic consumption with exports — China’s internal rebalancing remains largely superficial. Consumption as a share of GDP remains significantly lower in China (approximately 38%) compared to developed economies like the United States (over 68%) (World Bank, 2025).
Without meaningful reforms encouraging higher domestic consumption and less reliance on external demand, China’s model will continue to create unsustainable pressures on global trade, particularly affecting open-market economies like the United States. Secretary Bessent correctly identified that a “beautiful rebalancing” requires reciprocal structural adjustments — not just in the United States, but also in surplus economies like China.
Energy Poverty in Africa: A Development Crisis
Energy poverty remains one of the greatest barriers to inclusive economic development, particularly across Sub-Saharan Africa. Today, approximately 600 million Africans — nearly half the continent’s population — still lack access to reliable electricity (World Bank, 2025; AP News, 2025).
Secretary Bessent emphasized that decades of misaligned energy investments — focusing disproportionately on intermittent renewables without base-load generation — have failed to deliver scalable solutions. Electricity shortages inhibit industrialization, agricultural productivity, healthcare, education, and entrepreneurship, trapping millions in cycles of poverty.
The World Bank’s Mission 300 initiative, aiming to connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030, represents an important opportunity. However, success will depend on embracing an “all-of-the-above” strategy that includes natural gas, nuclear energy, hydroelectric power, and energy storage technologies — not just wind and solar.
Real development demands real energy. Without dependable, affordable power, aspirations for widespread poverty alleviation and sustainable economic growth will remain elusive.
Conclusion
Secretary Scott Bessent’s address is a clarion call for reform that the United States and its allies must heed. The Trump Administration’s push to reassert U.S. leadership through economic strength, trade fairness, institutional reform, and energy security reflects a realistic, strategic, and urgent path forward.
America First does not mean retreating from the world. It means leading it—by returning global institutions to their original purposes, restoring balance to international trade, ensuring energy abundance, and defending the economic security of American citizens and allies alike.
The time for principled action is now.
References
World Bank. (2025). Mission 300: Energy Access for Africa. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/
AP News. (2025, March 15). World Bank’s Mission 300 aims to deliver electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/
New York Post. (2025, April 14). China’s export surge heightens global imbalance fears. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/
Reuters. (2025, April 14). China’s March exports beat expectations with 12.4% gain; imports fall. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2025). U.S. Trade Statistics Overview. Retrieved from https://www.bea.gov/
U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). Foreign Trade Data: February 2025. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/
U.S. Department of the Treasury. (2025, April 23). Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Remarks at IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings. Retrieved from https://home.treasury.gov/