Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Jul 13
Warsh Panel Confronts Fed's $6.7 Trillion Balance Sheet as Market Risks Cloud Shrinkage
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Jul 13

Warsh Panel Confronts Fed's $6.7 Trillion Balance Sheet as Market Risks Cloud Shrinkage

3 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · Jul 13

Summary

  • Wall Street strategists say Kevin Warsh’s review panel faces a hard trade-off: reduce the Federal Reserve’s $6.7 trillion holdings without disrupting short-term funding markets.
  • The concern centers on execution, with analysts warning the panel’s senior academics and former policymakers may produce ideas that work in theory but prove difficult to carry out in markets.
  • That risk is heightened by the panel’s lack of market specialists, even as its academic and policy credentials give the balance-sheet review added credibility.
  • The challenge underscores how any Fed balance-sheet runoff must balance policy goals with market plumbing, where missteps can quickly spill into funding conditions.

Insights

Is shrinking the Fed's balance sheet a cure for market distortion or a recipe for financial instability?
Will a new 'Fed/Treasury accord' protect the Fed's independence or subject it to political pressure?