Kevin Warsh is against forward guidance. But that hasn't stopped other Fed officials

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh likes to hold his cards close to his vest. He thinks Fed officials have tipped their hand too much in the past about their future plans for interest rates.

In Fed-speak, this is known as forward guidance. But Warsh hasn’t been able to keep everybody else quiet — especially this week.

It started just two days after the Federal Reserve’s meeting last week where officials voted to raise interest rates. Jeff Schmid, president of the Federal Reserve of Kansas City, was the first to speak up. "The Fed has work to do on inflation,” he said.

Then on Wednesday this week, Fed Governor Michael Barr chimed in: “Inflation is above our 2% target,” he said. “And not clearly trending toward target in a timely way.”

Several more Fed officials decided to add their thoughts on Thursday. John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that it’s reasonable to think another rate hike may be appropriate by the end of the year.

Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO at QI Research, is not surprised by the cavalcade of Fed chatter.

“There is no corralling Fed speakers,” she said. “None, zero, zippo.”

DiMartino Booth said that some Fed officials are openly advocating for a rate hike. Others want to see how upcoming inflation data plays out.

Sarah Binder, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that all these comments from people at the Fed can smooth the way for future interest rate decisions.

“That’s how the Fed moves interest rates,” Binder said. “It’s through transparency, communication.”

Oren Klachkin, financial market economist at Nationwide, noted that these Fed speakers realize they can no longer act as though inflation caused by high oil prices and tariffs is temporary.

“We’re facing more and more of these supply-side shocks that are not just these one-off things,” he said. “They’re also lasting for longer.”

Klachkin said that last week’s interest rate hike may not be enough to cool the economy and beat back inflation. He expects two more rate increases this year.