News Summary

• Kevin Warsh quickly delivered on a promise to slash the Fed’s communications, particularly the guidance it gives to financial markets about its next interest-rate moves.
• Financial markets see-sawed, then fell on June 17 after the statement and news conference.
• The impact on consumers is likely to be modest, with mortgage rates perhaps a quarter-point higher than they would be otherwise.
• Such steps are a sharp contrast with the 1990s, when Greenspan never explained a Fed decision, on the record, to reporters.