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graham steele

@grahamsteele.bsky.social

2.9K followers 850 following 570 posts

Focused on the law & politics of finance. Currently Rock Center at Stanford Law School & Roosevelt Institute. Former Assistant Secretary, US Treasury Department & Democratic chief counsel, Senate Banking Committee. https://law.stanford.edu/graham-steele/

law.stanford.edu

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 17d

With the US potentially coming to Argentina's financial rescue, I'm sharing my new paper on "Financial Statecraft."

It critiques the government's deployment of the banking system for geopolitical purposes and proposes reforms to rebalance public and private power.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 3h

It’s the bottom of the 30th inning and Jack Morris enters the game to face Jay Buhner…

graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 5h

It feels like this game is never going to end.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 16h

“Stabilizing Argentina is ‘America First’.”

🇦🇷 🇺🇸

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Emily Flitter @emilyflitter.bsky.social · 11h

Meanwhile, south of the border: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

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Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 11h

Brutal day for Trump meme coins and tokens.

USD1 stsblecoin, which is backed 1:1 with US treasuries is, well, stable.

A coin gecko showing the prices of USD1, Trump, Melanke, WFLI.

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 17h

Crypto was pitched as a private alternative to publicly created money and the traditional banking system.

That was always a fantasy.

Crypto needs to be integrated with banks and the government to survive, even as it tries to evade meaningful regulations and consumer protections.

More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 18h

Morgan Stanley will now allow crypto investments in any type of account, including retirement accounts.

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 1d

bsky.app/profile/razz...

Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 1d

graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 1d

The government is shut down, so government workers, contractors, and beneficiaries aren't being paid. Yet the Treasury Department is using $20 billion in unappropriated funds to aid the right-wing government of Argentina in their upcoming elections.

An undemocratic abuse of financial statecraft.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 1d

The Trump administration confirmed that the U.S. bailed out Argentina.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had directly bought Argentine pesos in global currency markets in a bid to relieve pressure on the nation’s embattled President Javier Milei, a supporter of President Trump.

The U.S. just bailed out Argentina, Treasury Secretary confirms

The US Treasury has finalized a $20 billion financial rescue of Argentina, including a currency swap arrangement with the country's central bank.

www.washingtonpost.com

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 1d

Brutal.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d

EVERCORE, on Argentina bailout:

There are concerns “Bessent could try to push the Fed to open up a swap line directly with the Argentine central bank at the Fed’s credit risk. .. Bessent is likely hoping that an initial down payment on domestic farm support will give him enough political cover ..”

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James G @orth.ca · 2d

Vladdy: "DAAAAAA YANKEES LOSE!"

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Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · Sep 10

Every team's announcer should have this energy "The Yankees? They're not a good team"

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Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 6d

DAAAA YANKEES LOSE

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 5d

KBJ observed in the universal injunction case that the government’s arguments amounted to a “catch-me-if-you-can” legal regime.

It’s a useful frame for understanding the administration’s general approach to legal compliance.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson interjected: "Your argument seems to turn our justice system into a catch-me-if-you-can kind of regime … where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people's rights.”

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 6d

I had print reproductions of these two in my office at Treasury.

While a bit dated and gendered, they’re real treasures of New Deal art history.

Seymour Fogel’s “Security of the People”

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 7d

Time to think about the next phase of climate finance now that these voluntary industry commitments have failed.

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 7d

The world’s biggest climate alliance for banks has ceased operations, just four years after securing net zero pledges from many lenders

Bank Climate Group Formally Winds Down After Wall Street Exodus

The world’s biggest climate alliance for banks said on Friday it has ceased operations, bringing to a formal end a project that drew net zero pledges from many of the world’s biggest lenders just four years ago.

bloom.bg

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 8d

I’m confused. So are we now in favor of the government pressuring tech companies to remove apps from the App Store?

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 8d

This was done at the direction of Pam Bondi. The US government is now dictating what apps you can have on your phone.

The underlying threat here is if Apple didn't comply, they'd slap billions in tariffs on Apple products.

Alt text: Screenshot of a Fox News Digital article reporting that Apple removed the ICEBlock tracking app from its App Store after the Department of Justice raised safety concerns. The article states DOJ officials, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, asked Apple to take down the app, claiming it endangered law enforcement officers and shielded illegal immigrants. Bondi confirmed the removal in a statement, saying ICEBlock put ICE agents at risk and emphasized DOJ’s commitment to protecting federal officers.

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 8d

Conveniently, the CFPB, which is apparently paying for it, is funded through remittance from the Fed not congressional appropriations.

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 8d

How does this standard apply to Justices Alito and Thomas and their spouses?

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 8d

JUST IN: DOJ suggests Judge Simon recuse from the Oregon National Guard case because he's married to @RepBonamici, who has vocally opposed the deployment. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 8d

Great @theamarareport.bsky.social piece on the dynamics of Fed independence in Congress, the courts, and financial markets.

The Fed needs to adapt to the changing environment, in both its approach to core responsibilities and responses to legal and political risk.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Steele, the Stanford lawyer who also spent many years as a Democratic staff member in the Senate, says the Fed could have pushed back against Trump by using its own bully pulpit or taking a clearer stand in the Cook case.

In the past, the Fed has gotten itself into trouble “when it has not been willing to adapt to broader changes in circumstances,” including in the political environment, he says. “That probably should prompt them to think about the world that they’re really operating in now.”

graham steele @grahamsteele.bsky.social · 11d

The US could develop its own cheap, fast public payment rails. Instead, it’s threatening trade-related measures against Brazil for innovating.

Using financial statecraft to help incumbents continue squeezing out rents at consumers’ expense.

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 11d

Tired: Trump is punishing Brazil because they sentenced his pal Bolsonaro for attempting a coup
Wired: Trump is punishing Brazil because their useful central bank payment system is squeezing out PayPal
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/w...

Brazil Has a New Digital Spending Habit. Now It’s a Trump Target.

www.nytimes.com

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Bob Burgess @bobburgess.bsky.social · 11d

“We find some of his arguments questionable, others incomplete and almost none persuasive.”

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

‘Questionable, Incomplete’: Wall Street Rejects Miran’s Fed Call

Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran may still hope to persuade his central bank colleagues that there’s a case for dramatic reductions in interest rates.

www.bloomberg.com

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The Economist @economist.com · 11d

“Stablecoins will bring more risks than benefits—and alternatives exist.” In a guest essay, an economics professor and Nobel laureate explains why these digital tokens may have been misnamed

A Nobel laureate on why stablecoins may be nothing of the sort

Payments systems must be built on public infrastructure, not speculative tokens, writes Jean Tirole

econ.st

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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 12d

This was revealing. Worth reading. The basic demand is that Coates spend less time thinking/writing his true feelings and more time playing political strategist. Klein asks him over and over him to do Dem strategy; he says no, over and over. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...

Opinion | Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines

www.nytimes.com

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16d

Bessent on Argentina: "The plan is as long as President Milei continues with his strong economic policies to help him, to bridge him to the election, we are not going to let a disequilibrium in the market cause a backup in his substantial economic reforms."

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