The Federal Reserve has, for decades, moved steadily from a remote, opaque government agency that shared little about what it did or why to a more transparent institution willing to explain how it makes decisions and what it thinks about the economy.

But in his first press conference last Wednesday, new chair Kevin Warsh began to reverse some of those steps. Warsh, like many economists, thinks the financial markets have become too dependent on Fed guidance, and that such direction is more effective in financial crises or economic downturns.

Warsh's changes to the Fed's communications represent something of a return to former chair Alan Greenspan's circumspect approach. Greenspan died at 100 on Monday. He is the only former chair Warsh praised at his swearing-in last month.