Originally published at: People Are Starting to Worry if Kevin Warsh is a Credible Fed Chair - TPM – Talking Points Memo
Trump’s new Federal Reserve Board Chair Kevin Warsh took two missteps in two opposite directions during and after yesterday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate decision. And it wasn’t necessarily the board’s choice to hold interest rates steady — a decision that was mostly expected given current economic conditions — that most rankled markets and…
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As expected, Warsh hasn’t a clue what he’s doing. He’s balancing his ignorance with his desire to please his boss and he’s failing on all accounts.
All as expected.
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Did Layla even watch the hearing? It seems not. She totally missed Warsh’s refusal to explain the $100 million he got right after being appointed. He also refused to answer whether he had spoken to his corrupt underling about the accusations. His total lack of transparency and ethics went far beyond fiscal policy, but Layla did not notice.
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You could be right, but it strikes me that maybe he’s just too scared to do anything. And that would be with good reason, as this is one of those nightmares in which it is likely that both of his two choices going forward will turn out to be the wrong one. Either way, he’s definitely not projecting, or inspiring, confidence.
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How long before Trump decides to make these announcements himself, on Truth Social? With an extra $250,000 fee to get the news a little earlier than anyone else?
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Yeah, but don’t forget he’s from central casting, and he cleans up real good. Shouldn’t that be enough for a Trump apointee?
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Starting to worry? Where have these people been?
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Slight clarification: he failed to disclose or explain some of his assets. Hes worth about 100m. This is troubling bc he failed to follow standard Fed chair ethics procedure and looks as though he did not fully divest from some of his assets as required.
As far as i know, no one is alleging that Warsh “got” 100m after being appointed as some kind of a Tom Homan esk bribe.
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To be fair, he was considered a surprisingly conventional choice by Trump standards, so there was hope that he might be the best we could hope for. These latest developments certainly point toward him following the typical Trumpian lickspittle script.
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The title of the TPM post has it a bit backward: people AKA bond analysts and traders weren't so much "starting to worry" wrt Warsh's credibility as Fed Chair, they were just looking for any sign the role might ameliorate what they already knew of him and he failed to provide it.Warsh is a political animal. He calls for tight money and opposes any attempt to boost the economy when Democrats hold the White House. Like all Trumpers, he has been all for lower interest rates since November 2024.
Now, Warsh isn’t Trump’s worst appointment, by a long shot. Even among the economic appointments, he’s nowhere near the depths of corrupt sycophancy plumbed by Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, and Howard Lutnick, the Commerce secretary.
But the markets were looking for some sign that Warsh isn’t the lightweight bullshitter he appears to be. What they got instead was evidence that Warsh is no better than he seems.
– Paul Krugman
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The zeal with which Warsh talks of his effort to “tweak” the way data is gathered and interpreted by the Fed rings every bell in my anti-fascist alarm system. He’s not “in over his head.” He knows exactly what he’s doing, which is setting up the Fed for political manipulation.
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“Productivity growth and capital investment are strong.”
“A permanently high plateau.”
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Warsh knows well what needs to be done, and if he doesn’t there are plenty of experienced economists in the Federal Reserve to advice him.
The thing is that Trump placed Warsh there to do what Trump wanted. He wasn’t going to get the job unless he swore ultimate loyalty to Trump, and Trump wasn’t going to give it to him unless he had a way of enforcing that loyalty. You can bet your house that Warsh is compromised in some way.
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Pffft, the shorter list in this administration is for those that aren’t.
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Trump’s new Federal Reserve Board Chair Kevin Warsh reminds me of Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
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I agree that Warsh is painting too rosy a picture of the American economy. The cause of inflation is obvious. Trump’s war and Trump’s tariffs have driven up prices for energy, food, and household goods. Raising interest rates hurts the very people feeling the effects of Trump’s dumb moves.
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You didn’t watch the hearing either, eh? Review Warren’s questions.
It is long past time to acknowledge, by default, that dump’s “all the best people” means the most incompetent, corrupt, and morally compromised.
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