Bessent’s ‘Kill Line’ Question

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was at a loss last week when a reporter with China’s largest state-run media conglomerate pressed him on something called “the kill line” — a phrase that seemed to mean little to anyone else monitoring the press briefing.

The term, borrowed from video games, refers to the point at which a player can no longer absorb damage without being knocked out. In recent weeks, it has gone viral on Chinese social media as shorthand for what users describe as the invisible line beyond which many Americans tumble out of the middle class.

As one commentator widely credited with popularizing the phrase put it: many Americans appear comfortable on the surface — living in large homes and driving pickup trucks — but are in reality just one bad shock away from bankruptcy, or worse.

bloomberg.com - Trump affordability crisis bessent kill line query goes viral in china