Three weeks after each meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee, the central bank releases a summary of the closed-door discussions that took place.

The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee are inevitably stale, yet economists, market analysts, and other Fed watchers, Barron's included, pore over the details. It is a bit like watching a baseball game whose score you know, but you want to learn how that triple play in the fourth inning came together, and whether the latest trade could shake up the team's prospects. In this case, Fed followers want to know how much consensus exists on the committee for policy decisions, and what that might imply for future decisions, notably those regarding interest rates. That is particularly important under Kevin Warsh, who became the Fed's chairman in May, as Warsh has sworn off forward guidance, or telegraphing the Fed's future policy path. Actions may speak louder than words on the Warsh Fed, especially as the number of words issued by the FOMC has shrunk. Both the official policy statement issued after each FOMC meeting and the minutes have become shorter and more concise. Minutes of the June FOMC meeting ran at roughly 5,300 words; July's minutes were closer to 5,000, and those from the September meeting clocked in at about 4,800. In all cases, the meeting minutes were shorter than those released under former Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom Warsh succeeded.

In the minutes of the Fed's Sept. 15-16 meeting, released on Oct. 7, officials were unified in deciding to raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point, to a target range of 3.75% to 4%. That marked a change from several prior meetings this year, which saw dissents to the committee's decision to hold rates steady.

The unanimous vote suggests a firmer commitment by the committee to bring down inflation, which has exceeded the Fed's 2% annual target for more than five years.

The minutes of the Jan. 27-28 FOMC meeting revealed that "several" participants supported changes to the postmeeting statement to reflect the possibility that an increase in interest rates might be warranted if inflation remained at above-target levels. By the July 28-29 meeting, that had shifted to "many" participants, who said policy tightening would likely be necessary if inflation didn't decline.

Generally, "several participants" carries more weight than "some" or a "few." These types of qualifiers can also signal a lack of consensus among the FOMC's 19 members, 12 of whom vote at meetings.

A divergence of viewpoints also surfaced in the September minutes, albeit around the rationale for potentially raising rates. The minutes highlighted that "many" officials emphasized that higher rates would be "prudent on risk-management grounds," acting as insurance against the possibility that inflation would remain high due to the risk of supply shocks. But "a number of participants" viewed higher rates as necessary based on their economic outlook, rather than as a risk-management measure.

At the next FOMC meeting, scheduled for Oct. 27-28, FOMC members will seek to determine how restrictive policy has become as higher rates take hold, and whether they need to raise interest rates further.

Warsh said at a press conference following the September meeting that he would be "hard-pressed to describe broad financial conditions as restrictive." He added that this view was widely shared by the committee.

The September minutes showed that "several" participants viewed policy as not restrictive or only mildly restrictive. They also indicated that officials finally pulled the trigger on raising rates because they believed that underlying inflation wouldn't decelerate and return to 2% without the Fed's intervention. Moreover, policymakers increasingly felt the economy was strong -- or strong enough to tolerate higher interest rates.

The FOMC will meet again on Oct. 27-28. Futures markets put 81% odds on no change in rates, and 19% odds a quarter-point increase. The minutes, due Nov. 18, will recount how the committee voted, and more importantly, explain why.