Central banks are under siege in many countries but nowhere more prominently than in the United States, where MAGA partisans see control over the Federal Reserve as being critical to the future of their movement. The confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the new Fed chair is a significant step in that direction.

Warsh has no formula for delivering the low interest rates that Donald Trump demands without depriving the central bank of the main instrument it uses to combat inflation. As policy dilemmas intensify, pressure will soon mount to further open the edifice of monetary policy to the forces of populist authoritarianism.

For about half a century, central banks were “independent,” with their operations and decisions placed in the hands of economic experts whose main task was to set interest rates at levels that would prevent inflation. In doing so, they were shielded from interference by politicians, special interests, and public opinion. That consensus is now clearly breaking down.