Are you going to be the President's sock puppet?
That was the question asked by Republican Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana - echoing others on a Senate Committee grilling Donald Trump's pick to be the chair of the world's most important financial institution the Federal Reserve. Questions on Mr Warsh's independence have dominated the first hour of the hearing with both Democrats and Republicans quoting remark's by the President that he "wouldn't appoint anyone who wasn't going to lower interest rates". Mr Warsh denied that he had "made a deal" with Donald Trump to lower rates if approved. Inflation has been above the Fed's target for several years but Kevin Warsh told the committee he had low confidence in traditional measures of inflation - signalling that inflation being above target would not be a barrier to lowering rates.