Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has a difficult decision to make next week.

President Donald Trump wants lower interest rates.

The markets are pointing in the other direction.

Trump reiterated this weekend that the United States should have the lowest interest rates in the world.

But the economic picture confronting Warsh and the rest of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is getting harder to ignore.

Warsh has already signaled that he is concerned.

Speaking at Jackson Hole in August, Warsh said the Fed would have “work to do” if inflation was not moving back down toward its 2% target.

That puts him in an uncomfortable position.

Raising rates moves directly against what Trump has been publicly demanding.

But holding rates could bring questions about whether the central bank is responding forcefully enough to inflation.

There is another part of this story that may matter even more to investors.

The Federal Reserve does not control every interest rate.

It sets a range for a very short-term interest rate. But longer-term borrowing costs are determined in markets.

And lately, those markets have been sending their own message.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury recently approached 5%, a level that has raised concerns about borrowing costs across the economy.

Higher oil prices, government borrowing concerns and geopolitical uncertainty also loom large in the minds of investors.

All of this matters far beyond Wall Street. Treasury yields help influence borrowing costs throughout the economy.

That is why investors should pay attention to more than whether the Fed raises rates by a quarter point next week.

How the different FOMC members vote could be just as telling as the interest rate decision.

Several Fed policymakers favored raising rates at the central bank’s previous meeting, showing that the committee was already divided.

And Warsh’s explanation of the decision afterward could also give us some clues.

But the real thing to watch is the bond market.

That may be the most important part.

If Treasury yields fall after the Fed announcement, investors could be signaling greater confidence that inflation will eventually come under control.

If long-term yields rise after the meeting, the message could be very different. And it could leave Fed Chair Warsh between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

Trump can argue that the United States should have the lowest interest rates in the world.

But neither the president nor the Federal Reserve can order investors to lend money cheaply.

That is what makes next week’s Fed meeting so interesting.

Markets get a vote too.