Jack Lew Asks US Congress to Show Political Will

Just eight years after America’s financial crisis, the world is once again looking to the U.S. for economic leadership, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Thursday. But he warned that confidence could disappear quickly if Congress falters with economic issues.

The “big question is, do we have the political will?” Lew said, using the looming debt ceiling as an exemplary hurdle. He also named funding for infrastructure spending and an extension of the Export-Import Bank as other challenges facing congressional leaders.

“Congress needs to act or we could be faced with a crisis,” Lew said. He made the comments Thursday at an International Monetary Fund meeting in Lima, Peru. “We have the capacity, but do we have the will?”

Divisions among congressional leadership been pervasive for years, and many issues remain contentious. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the Treasury Department supports, faced a setback this week when Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton came out against the massive international trade proposal.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza