Washington —
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh is already getting the “family fight” he has called for, and he’s leaving it up to Wall Street to choose between dueling narratives.
The Fed on Wednesday held its benchmark lending rate unchanged at a range of 3.5%-3.75% for the fifth consecutive meeting, with the persistent conflict in the Middle East clouding the outlook for inflation.
Unsurprisingly, the Fed’s latest decision was not unanimous, with Fed presidents Beth Hammack of Cleveland, Neel Kashkari of Minneapolis and Lorie Logan of Dallas dissenting in favor of a quarter-point rate hike instead — policymakers who have already signaled that the Fed must be tough on inflation.
The latest dissents for rates to head in one direction were the most since September 2016, but Warsh said he doesn’t see that as a bad thing.
