Steve Liesman
@steveliesman.bsky.social
CNBC senior economics reporter. Husband, father, journalist, guitarist and fly fisherman. (The Lies-man joke has been made. It’s not fresh. It’s my father’s father’s name, bastardized at Ellis Island. Move along.)
The administration is turning up the heat on Warsh ahead of the Fed meeting. www.cnbc.com/2026/09/05/t...
Trump turns up the heat on Warsh as Fed rate hike looms
Ten days ahead of the next Federal Reserve meeting, the Trump administration looks to be in a full-court press to halt a rate hike in its tracks.
cnbc.com
The president’s threat to halt trade with countries with which we have a trade deficit is self-defeating, stupid, and a non sequitur. But it’s also serious. Self defeating because countries with trade deficits recycle dollars into treasuries and reduce US interest rates.
In the parallel universe of right wing conspiracies, firing a promoter of a debunked conspiracy is further evidence of the conspiracy itself.
And now we see the problem: tough talk from Warsh strengthens dollar. Weakens yen. Moves other way from what treas wants. So fed/treas now at cross purposes.
FWIW, I can see after the speech how this new Warsh communication regime can work for markets. He provides functions but not reaction, giving market enough info to create probabilities around possible reactions but promising nothing and getting a clearer signal on market probabilities.
For the first time, fed chairman kevin warsh provided his functions, but continued not to provide his reactions. So he seems to have met his critics halfway.
Someone in the White House spent time today preparing an eo to rename Lake Ontario. The president spent time signing it. In economic terms, was the opportunity cost negative because they could have been doing something more important? Or positive, because they didn’t do something even dumber?
Markets looking for more from Warsh in Jackson Hole www.cnbc.com/2026/08/26/f...
Economists want Warsh to share more on his view of the economy at Jackson Hole, says CNBC survey
Eighty percent of CNBC Fed Survey respondents say the Federal Reserve Chairman Warsh should provide more insight into his economic views.
cnbc.com
The fed could look thru tariffs as a one-off rise in the price level if they were one-off. Instead, they seem like they are daily. Might be six months or a year till we can measure the change to the 338 tariffs from ieepa. The new Canada tariffs may not later that much. Until they are raised again
CNBC EXCLUSIVE: Bessent could tap Treasury General Account to fund bond buybacks, sources said www.cnbc.com/2026/08/24/b...
Bessent could tap near $1 trillion Treasury General Account to fund bond buybacks, sources said
Using the TGA would provide the Treasury with considerable firepower to influence long-term bond yields.
cnbc.com
Today's treasury buyback move wasn't huge in itself, but it's part of a clear pattern of Bessent intervening to tamp down yields. That is creating a fair amount of market risk for the Treasury, and putting even more pressure on the Fed. With @steveliesman.bsky.social www.cnbc.com/2026/08/19/b...
Bessent moves to curb Treasury yields, putting new pressure on Warsh's Fed www.cnbc.com/2026/08/19/b...
Bessent moves to curb Treasury yields, putting new pressure on Warsh's Fed
Treasury's move to buy back more long-term debt cooled a bond selloff, but economists warn it could raise new inflation and independence questions for the Fed
cnbc.com
Regarding Treas. Secty's attack on @nicktimiraos.bsky.social: 1. Nick is no stenographer. One of the smartest guys in the room. Wish he were. Would make my life easier. 2. I know Kevin Warsh for a lot of years and pretty sure he doesn't need any help from Treasury managing his press. 1/2
Can’t recall reading such brutal commentary of a fed chairman as the street is laying on Warsh today. JPM’s Feroli: he “…once again failed to specify how he intended to achieve his stridently asserted inflation resolve” and failed to support pce as the target in the medium term.
What we could learn about the new Warsh communications regime from today’s market reaction to the fed decision www.cnbc.com/2026/07/29/f...
Warsh's plan for a more opaque Fed will get put to the test by markets on edge
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's words at his second FOMC meeting will test markets as he plans to say less than his predecessors.
cnbc.com
Asked by @carlquintanilla.bsky.social on @squawkstreet.bsky.social this morning how the Fed might rollback press conferences by the chair, I said, I don't know. In my 30 years of covering the Fed, I've only reported on increases in transparency. Not sure how they would announce a rollback.
Speaking in Warsh Code. www.cnbc.com/2026/07/22/k...
Kevin Warsh has homed in on three key phrases. How Fed watchers interpret them
In five public appearances, Warsh has used the phrase "family fight" 13 times, returning to "first principles" 11 times and "inflation is a choice" for the Fed six times.
cnbc.com
Markets don’t a have a problem pricing in default risk. They just charge more for it. This is why all the deals President Trump strikes (and his successors) will be more expensive than they otherwise would be. When the president walks away from his own trade deal with Canada or rips up Obama’s…1/4
Pres Trump’s plan to charge for early access to his pronouncements on his truth social company should be illegal. The information he releases is not his personal property. It belongs to the people. He has no right to sell and profit from it.
Surprising national poll results from @cnbc.com Economic views worsen even after gas prices decline. www.cnbc.com/2026/07/17/e...
Economic outlook is worsening and Trump is getting blamed, CNBC survey finds
The public is as depressed about the economy as it has been since the years just after the pandemic, according to the All-America Economic Survey.
cnbc.com
The question for tomorrow’s Warsh hearing is whether Senators let him get away with saying nothing about his outlook for monetary policy. Is it enough for him just to repeat his commitment to the mandate? Will somebody make him respond to the question,
I think all this talk from Warsh about not providing forward guidance is a bit of hooey. He said inflation is too high. He made a firm commitment to price stability. He said that inflation from AI or other sources is the fed’s choice. What more do you need to know ? 1/
New: Fed governor Lisa Cook has spent more than $1 million defending herself in the wake of Trump's attempt to fire her, a filing shows. The Supreme Court could rule on her case as soon as today.
Trump bid to fire Fed's Lisa Cook cost her more than $1M in legal, security costs: Filing
A financial disclosure from Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook details large legal and security expenses
cnbc.com
Was it a Warsh out in markets today? (I’ll take stupid puns for $100 Alex)
Check out the live blog of the Fed meeting @cnbc.com Live: Fed meeting live updates: All eyes on whether Warsh will dial back the Fed's transparency www.cnbc.com/2026/06/17/f...
Fed meeting live updates: All eyes on whether Warsh will dial back the Fed's transparency
The Federal Reserve’s rate decision on Wednesday marks the first one with Kevin Warsh at the helm.
cnbc.com
@mattpeterson.bsky.social offers this interesting thread that says the president is giving Warsh breathing room on rate cuts at this meeting. Seems like a tacit acknowledgment by Trump that he was wrong to pressure Powell for lower rates. If the current rate is good now, it was good before.
Matt Peterson@mattpeterson.bsky.social · 3mo agoWarsh's first FOMC meeting will unfold this week. It's likely to produce the same result as Powell's last meeting—no rate change—but no explosion from the president. Trump thought Powell had a vendetta against him. "The president trusts Warsh, so he’ll have some scope of action," I was told.
Kevin Warsh's Fed is not expected to make any change to rates for a while www.cnbc.com/2026/06/16/k...
Kevin Warsh's Fed is not expected to make any change to rates for a while, according to CNBC Fed Survey
The survey respondents do expect the Fed at this week's meeting to remove the easing bias in the statement that has signaled the Fed's next move would likely be a cut.
cnbc.com
