In 2006, a booker for CNBC asked me to go on the air and argue against Kevin Warsh’s nomination to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors. They wanted “balance” for a segment featuring a Warsh supporter. I had no idea who Warsh was and declined.
Twenty years later, I know Kevin Warsh well from dozens of panels, conferences, and conversations. And I still wouldn’t go on television to argue against him. In fact, I want to see him confirmed as chair of the world’s most important central bank.
But Warsh’s confirmation should come only after the Senate asks hard questions that fully establish his commitment to independence—and after President Donald Trump takes visible steps to shore up the Fed’s autonomy. That starts with heeding Senator Thom Tillis’s call to resolve the legal cloud hanging over current chair Jerome Powell. Markets function on credibility. So does the Federal Reserve.
Warsh clears the substantive bar for the job. He is quick, intellectually serious, and capable of engaging with arguments he disagrees with. He understands the Fed, the executive branch, and financial markets. He has the raw materials to be an excellent Fed chair.
