Fed chair Kevin Warsh’s agenda clashes with reality

IT HAS been nearly two months since Kevin Warsh took office as the Federal Reserve’s 17th chairman. Since assuming the position, he has helmed his inaugural Federal Open Markets Committee meeting and spoken publicly for the first time at the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Forum on Central Banking. 

The events have illuminated the tightrope the Fed chair has to walk, which was foreshadowed by his 54-45 confirmation vote in the Senate – the narrowest in US history.

Warsh arrived in Washington with a long list of things he wanted to change about how the Fed operates.