Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh speaks to reporters during his first news conference since taking the helm at the central bank.
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Every new boss has a move. Some announce layoffs. Others reorganize the company.Kevin Warsh launched task forces."At any institution, a change in leadership is a natural and timely opportunity to reaffirm its mission, to review current practices, and to consider whether those practices best meet our objectives," Warsh said Wednesday during a press conference. "My Fed colleagues and I will be working in close collaboration to ask what changes might improve the conduct of monetary policy."Warsh has arrived at the Fed as a new appointee of President Donald Trump, following the end of former chair Jerome Powell's tenure, with experience examining how central banks communicate.A former Federal Reserve governor, he led a 2014 review of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee's transparency practices and procedures, resulting in recommendations to bolster the bank's transparency, accountability, and governance.That history makes his early focus on process and communications less surprising and suggests that his review-heavy approach may reflect a long-held interest in how central banks explain themselves, given that the Fed is likely unaccustomed to the kind of sweeping changes seen in corporate America.The mandate that Warsh laid out — to "start with first principles," "ask hard questions," and "consider alternatives" — is the kind of language a CEO might use, and resembles a familiar corporate strategy: gathering information, reassessing priorities, and building support for changes that may come later.
