Fed’s Warsh heeds own advice with record short press conference
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Kevin Warsh stuck to his commitment not to foreshadow the Fed’s future actions on Sept 16, instead focusing on this week’s meeting and how Fed officials currently see the economy.
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON - US Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh has said he thinks policymakers should do a lot less talking.
He followed his own advice on Sept 16 when he held the shortest press conference on record for a Fed chair speaking after a regularly-scheduled policy meeting.
Warsh’s customary news conference following the Fed’s decision to raise interest rates for the first time in more than three years clocked in at right around 30 minutes.
That was the shortest session since Fed chairs began holding regular press conferences in 2011.
The chairman stuck to his commitment not to foreshadow the Fed’s future actions, instead focusing on this week’s meeting and how Fed officials currently see the economy.
The Fed also changed the seating arrangement in the briefing room.
While journalists from major newspapers and wire services used to populate the front row, the seating was switched to alphabetical order by outlet name.
That meant Agence France-Presse got a spot in the front row. Reporters for the Wall Street Journal and Reuters were moved to the back of the room.
The future of the press conference, meanwhile, remains up in the air.
One of five task forces created by Warsh will examine communications.
It is charged with reviewing how the Fed “conveys policy deliberations and decisions amid uncertainty,” an umbrella that could put the press conference, among other communications tools, on the chopping block.
The Fed chief has said he does not want the central bank’s decisions to be front-page news.
At his first meeting as head of the Fed in June, he drastically shortened the post-meeting statement issued by policymakers.
He has also previously expressed scepticism about the benefits of news conferences, saying in June that the sessions are most useful when there is “something important to say”.
In July, he committed to continuing the regular press conferences – but only through the end of this year. BLOOMBERG