Dissembling.

That’s one word — and probably the only one you need — to describe Kevin Warsh’s Wednesday afternoon press conference.

If you need another one, “strategery” might work too.

Most of the time, when monetary policy officials obfuscate, it takes the form of academified meandering in the service of… to be honest, I don’t know how to finish that sentence. I’m not sure what the point of academified meandering is in the monetary policy context. You’d have to ask Janet Yellen or Ben Bernanke.

Jerome Powell promised to do away with academified meandering in favor of what he famously dubbed “plain English.” That effort had mixed results, but on the whole, I think Powell succeeded in making the press conferences feel less opaque.

Warsh’s pressers, and particularly Wednesday’s proceedings, feel like a return to obfuscation, but not the kind born of too much time in academia. Rather, the sort that betrays an underlying inclination to evasiveness. Or incompetence. (It’s both here.)

Warsh limited press conference participants to one question on Wednesday (Steve Liesman wormed his way into two), and he didn’t answer any of them. Not really, anyway.

Instead, he repeated over and over again that the Fed’s commitment to price stability as defined by 2% YoY PCE inflation’s unwavering. That’s nice, but it’s about like the Supreme Court reiterating that much as the conservative majority would enjoy stripping a black woman of her constitutional protections, Lisa Cook’s surely entitled to due process. In other words: Maybe you say it once or twice, but considering it’s foundational, saying it too many times can have the opposite of the intended effect.

Warsh would say he has to keep pounding the table because after six years of above-target inflation, there are questions as to whether the Fed’s implicitly adopted a different target. All he’s trying to do is “disabuse” Americans of the idea that the Committee’s tolerating “something in the twos.”

That’s all fine and good, but talk’s cheap. If you want people to believe you, do something. Warsh spent a fair amount of time on Wednesday talking up — and look, I didn’t say it, he did, so don’t shoot the messenger — his “package,” by which he meant the combination of forceful rhetoric and rate hikes, all one of them.

Warsh said that by and by, his “package of medicine” will cure inflation, but it’s not gonna happen overnight. Although this was to be expected given his (over-the-top) disdain for forward guidance, Warsh generally refused to engage in any meaningful way with questions about the December meeting, saying only that the next few months will be an “information-rich” period.

He also spent a lot of time extolling the merits of “strategizing,” which he reckons the Fed doesn’t do enough of. As such, the Fed will devote one meeting next year and two in 2028 entirely to “strategy.” No policy decisions will be made at those meetings, and no statement will be released.

When Liesman asked about public disclosures related the strategy meetings, Warsh said he doesn’t “anticipate making a statement” about what goes on during the sessions. That’s, um, not ideal is it?

When Semafor asked about the task forces, Warsh said he’s checked in on them and they’re “hard at work.” “[I’m] impressed with the seriousness,” he said. “I’m impressed by what they’re doing.”

Asked if he’s concerned that Wednesday’s hold may make households worry that the Fed isn’t actually serious about restoring inflation to target, Warsh emphasized that medium-term inflation expectations are anchored.

When Newsmax (of all outlets) asked about Trump’s contention that the Fed board’s conspiring against The White House, Warsh offered this: “I refuse to answer questions about remarks made by public officials.”

ABC wondered if the proximity of the midterms played a role in the decision to keep rates unchanged. Warsh swore up and down that had nothing to do with it. “I didn’t hear an utterance about politics,” he said.