🔊The Chair: Kevin Warsh

The Federal Reserve behind closed doors

Back for one episode only at 242econ: The Chair, a nine-part podcast series on the US Federal Reserve behind closed doors.

Over The Chair’s two seasons, I talked to authors of books about the Fed’s most consequential chiefs – Marriner Eccles, Bill Martin, Arthur Burns, Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen and Jerome Powell.

The Powell podcast was meant to be the last but, after Kevin Warsh took over on 22 May 2026 and started preparing for his first policy meeting as chairman in mid-June, a ninth episode became irresistible. Who is this Republican hawk-turned-dove? As one voting policymaker among 12, has he dangerously over-promised to a volatile and cornered president?

To discuss Warsh, I’m joined by three “Fed watchers” – Claire Jones from the Financial Times, Catarina Saraiva from Bloomberg News, and Michael Redmond from Medley Advisors. “I think [Warsh] has upset a lot of people with the criticisms that he’s had of the Fed,” says Claire. “I think there’s just this sense where people are worried because they’re thinking: ‘What did you have to say in order to get this job? What have you promised to the administration in order to get this job?’ So, there’s those issues of trust”.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

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Podcast production by Emin Fikić and artwork by Abbie Hutchins