Kevin Warsh In Today’s WSJ

Kevin M. Warsh of the Federal Reserve wrote an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal titled “The Fed’s Job Is Only Half Over.”
I’ve read the article twice and it’s one of the platitudinal pieces I’ve ever read. I’m not expecting high prose from an economist, but man, this writing is dry. It reads like a committee report, which it may be. All Warsh does is restate the title about a dozen times.
Here are some choice excerpts:
“We are at a critical transition period, of still unknown duration, and we must prepare diligently for an uneven road race ahead.”
“And our policy judgments will ultimately prove worthy of the accolades, and tender the ultimate rejoinder to our critics, if we rise to meet this heightened responsibility. I am confident we will.”
“That outcome will require that policy makers have equal parts capability, clairvoyance and courage—perhaps the most important of which is courage.”
“A nimble, even-handed approach toward our risk-management challenges will prove necessary.”
“Today, even more than usual, we should maintain considerable humility about optimal policy.”
“Financial market developments bear especially careful watching.”
“Nonetheless, I would hazard the view that prudent risk management indicates that policy likely will need to begin normalization before it is obvious that it is necessary, possibly with greater force than is customary, and taking proper account of the policies being instituted by other authorities.”

Posted by on September 25th, 2009 at 3:11 pm


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