Warsh Wants the Fed Talking Less, While Two Officials Push for More Openness

The Federal Reserve is divided over how much it should say in public, and the disagreement has become a sharper fight over whether the central bank is communicating too much or too little. Warsh has called for the Fed to say less. Two other officials are pushing in the opposite direction, arguing that the public deserves a clearer view of how policymakers are thinking.

The argument is unfolding alongside a more pointed debate about inflation. Some Fed officials say more interest-rate increases are needed to get price growth under control. That makes the question of communication more than a matter of style. When policymakers are weighing rate hikes, how they explain those decisions shapes how households, businesses and financial markets read the outlook.

The available details do not settle the question. The dispute is about how the Fed talks as much as what it decides, and it is not yet clear whether either side will win out or whether the central bank will change its practices. The next public remarks from the officials involved are likely to show where the debate is heading.