Warsh Must Confront Risks of Dissenting in His First Fed Vote

When Kevin Warsh hosts his first meeting as the new chair of the Federal Reserve, he’ll face an immediate dilemma: Stare down White House demands for immediate interest-rate cuts, or stare down fellow policymakers who remain skeptical of the need to ease.

The unusual starting place raises the possibility that Warsh may eventually be forced to cast a dissenting vote against his colleagues to make his case heard.

Ordinarily, the idea of a Fed chair breaking from a consensus decision at the central bank would be almost unthinkable. Paul Volcker in 1986, G. William Miller in 1978 and Marriner Eccles ...