Mnuchin sees stock market wiping out gains if tax plan fails

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the stock market will probably see its gains wiped out if lawmakers fail to deliver planned tax cuts that will benefit corporate America.

“To the extent we get the tax deal done, the stock market will go up higher,” Mnuchin said in an interview on the Politico Money podcast released Wednesday. “But there is no question in my mind if we don’t get it done you are going to see a reversal of a significant amount of these gains.”

U.S. stocks have been hitting record highs, buoyed by strong economic data and, according to Mnuchin, investor optimism that the Trump administration’s planned tax cuts and regulatory relief will move forward. “I think it’s priced in, in anticipation, so I don’t think it’s priced in 100 percent certainty,” said Mnuchin. “So I think the market will go up.”

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin

U.S. Treasury secretaries typically avoid predictions about markets to avoid disrupting them.

Mnuchin also gave his “absolute guarantee” that the tax bill will be ready for the presidential signature by early December to be completed by the end of this year.

In the interview, Mnuchin also shed light on his reading habits: The Treasury secretary gets phone notifications when his boss, President Donald Trump, posts on Twitter, which is one of the first things he checks after waking up. These days briefing books are about the only texts on his nightstand, though Mnuchin said loves learning about people and their history and he devours biographies, including first U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton’s.

Bloomberg News
Tax reform Tax cuts Tax planning Steven Mnuchin Donald Trump
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