Warsh Aims to Reverse Four Decades of Inflationary Policies

The Federal Reserve's new chairman, Kevin Warsh, has made it clear that he wants to revive an era of monetary restraint. This is a welcome change from the inflationary policies of the past four decades.

Warsh was reacting to a widespread perception that inflation in the United States is closely tied to the war in Iran. However, while news from the Gulf does impact oil prices and other costs, it's not the main cause of persistently high inflation.

The real problem goes back decades and has deeper causes than Middle East turmoil or oil prices. In fact, since 2017, total inflation has been around 36 percent, almost twice as much as the Fed's 2 percent target.