Fed keeps interest rates steady

CBS News coordinating producer Richard Escobedo joins us now. Chair Warsh made some waves at his inaugural appearance. What did he say about the decision and changes coming to the central bank? Well, welcome to the Warsh era, Lindsey. One of the things that he said-- the thing that was most interesting, actually, is what he didn't say. And, interestingly, he shied away from giving any indication on how he sees the path of monetary policy, whether it's interest rates or some other technical things, like the Fed's balance sheet. But what he did say and what he did do was take us into the boardroom where those decisions are made. He said that there was a proposal on the table at one point, just one, and limited to actually cut rates, but it didn't go very far. And I want to read what he said about that. He said that the board had a good family fight about that for a couple of days, and they wound up in a better place because of it. But those changes you mentioned are actually some of the more interesting things that he touched on. They are going to come in five areas. He appointed this task force-- five task forces, excuse me, to look at things like communication to look at how the Fed communicates and talks about the path forward for interest rates. It's also going to look at some more technical things like the Fed's balance sheet. And within about a year, by the end of the year, he expects that most of those tasks forces will talk to a bunch of experts, both within the Fed and outside of the Fed, come to some conclusions, and make proposals for changes in the Fed. It's really this wholesale change, this repositioning of the Fed to look at how the economy is different, and he talked about that in his confirmation hearing. I spoke to our colleague, Kelly O'Grady, earlier. She called him spicy. I mean, do you agree? How different in tone was he to his Predecessor? In terms of tone, he was a little bit more engaging, a little more dynamic. But in terms of substance and commitment to keeping interest rates in check-- I'm sorry, keeping inflation in check, it was pretty much the same. There was one thing that stood out to me. He was adamant about keeping inflation in check. But one change that was particularly notable was this idea of forward guidance, where the Fed telegraphs to investors and to markets what may or may not come in the next couple weeks or months. That's gone. That is done away with. And reporters tried to get something out of him, and he gave us zilch.

It's like, you want to read these tea leaves? I'm going to give you nothing. All right, Richard Escobedo, we shall see. Thank you.