Oaktree’s Howard Marks prefers less activist Fed under Kevin Warsh

Howard Marks has spent years telling anyone who would listen that the Federal Reserve does too much. Now he has a Fed Chair who apparently agrees. The Oaktree Capital Management co-chairman has voiced his preference for the less interventionist approach taking shape under Kevin Warsh, who has moved quickly since taking office to dial back the Fed’s reliance on forward guidance, the practice of telegraphing future policy moves to markets well in advance. Warsh’s quiet revolution at the Fed Warsh was confirmed by the Senate on May 13, 2026, in a 54-45 vote, and officially became Fed Chair on May 22. In the months since, he has launched five task forces aimed at modernizing Fed operations, with a particular focus on reducing the central bank’s habit of holding markets’ hands through detailed guidance about where rates are headed. The philosophy got its clearest articulation at Jackson Hole on August 28, 2026, where Warsh laid out his vision for a Fed that waits for concrete evidence before acting. His message: the central bank needs genuine confidence that inflation is moving toward its target before easing policy, not just hopeful projections. Then came the action to match the words....