Confused by where Warsh stands? Get used to it | CNN Business

It’s standard practice for Federal Reserve officials to steer clear of politics and “stay in their lane,” as Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s Fed chair nominee, described it Tuesday at his confirmation hearing. That lane is intended for managing the economy by setting interest rates at levels to fulfill the central bank’s congressional mandate for stable prices and maximum employment. Yet when senators on the banking committee pressed Warsh on topics well within his lane, like what’s driving inflation, he left his views vague. That isn’t incidental. It reflects Warsh’s broader push to rethink how Fed officials broadcast their views on the economy and the path of interest rates. Asked whether he agreed with several Fed officials who’ve recently said they believe higher tariffs Trump enacted are driving prices higher, Warsh said simply, “I don’t.” But he then complicated that certainty by arguing that the government’s standard inflation gauges don’t fully capture what’s happening in the economy — and that, if confirmed, he would push to rethink how inflation is measured altogether. “I want to know what inflation really is,” he said, adding tha