What Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the Milken event (and how his critics responded)

(Credit: Stefani Reynolds - Bloomberg - Getty Images)

• In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.
• The big story: Trump’s movie tax may have the opposite effect of the one intended.
• The markets: Western markets are down, Asian markets are up.
• Analyst notes from EY on Fed independence, JPMorgan Chase on global GDP, JPMorgan Chase on earnings, and Pantheon Macroeconomics on employment.
• Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning from the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, an annual gathering of policymakers and leaders focused on finance, philanthropy, and health. That intersection makes for interesting juxtapositions, where university and NGO leaders who are feeling the pain of Trump Administration policies mingle with investors seeing opportunities to profit. Elon Musk spoke about DOGE and the future of humanity at a private meeting, one attendee told me, not necessarily in that order. At my dinner last night, speakers pivoted from the power grid to power politics.