A conference of less than 150 people in a mountain resort far away from Wall Street and Washington DC hosted by a regional federal bank has become over its 45 years of history the most prestigious economic event. Jerome H. Powell will speak on Friday and is expected to reveal details about how and when the central bank intends to wind down its bond-buying. Powell’s remarks along with media coverage of papers and speeches coming from the event will act as a good barometer of the state of the US economy as well as the world. This is especially helpful now when market volatility has been high, flip-flopping almost daily between a glass half-full, half-empty analysis. Markets tend to be very sensitive to the communication coming out of Jackson Hole every August. For example, in 1997, then-Fed Chair Alan Greenspan made a brief comment on Mexico while discussing the Asian financial crisis which caused the Mexican stock market to tumble on fears the Fed chair was signaling a spillover in the global financial system.
- The topic for the 2023 symposium was “Structural Shifts in the Global Economy.” The topic for the 2024 symposium has not yet been announced.
- Differing expectations from Powell have raised interest in his Friday speech at the conference.
- In 2019, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a speech in the middle of then-President Donald Trump’s campaign to berate the Fed into interest rate cuts.
- Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia.
- The full history of the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium is detailed in the book In Late August, which is available for free to download here.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is delivering his annual address at the central bank’s Jackson Hole, Wyo., symposium Friday morning. In 2019, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a speech in the middle of then-President Donald Trump’s campaign to berate the Fed into interest rate cuts. Trump, seemingly believing the Jackson Hole meeting was a policy-setting meeting, expressed disappointment dowmarkets that Powell’s speech did not coincide with a decision to lower interest rates. The late August event is usually three days, and begins with a dinner on Thursday. The next morning usually kicks off with a speech from the sitting Fed chair, followed by other speeches and panel discussions. The only incorporated area in the valley is Jackson, located at its southern end.
How Jackson Hole Became an Economic Obsession
Jackson Hole is where central bankers let their hair down and let important words escape their lips. If you put so many of the most powerful people at one place and let them freely discuss the most important issues, you are bound to get some hint of the things to come. That’s why investors parse sentences that emerge from Jackson Hole conference. Knowing that the whole world is listening, Fed chairpersons have often used this opportunity to provide hints about policy shifts.
Changing Market Structures and Implications for Monetary Policy
The symposium brings together people from across the economic, financial, and governmental fields, to discuss the most pressing matters facing global economics. Bank of America believes that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell might use the Jackson Hole platform to reaffirm the central bank’s commitment to achieving its 2 percent inflation target. This might entail maintaining a cautious approach to policy, thereby prolonging a restrictive stance. Powell’s emphasis on the Fed’s reliance on data could imply that “every meeting is live.” Should Powell express comfort with the current rate hike pace, markets might interpret this as a signal for a potential pause in September and a likely hike in November.
Each year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City selects a specific topic for the symposium and chooses a pool of attendees based on that topic. Anyone who wishes to view them can do so for free online, or get a free printed copy after they are published. The conference has not only provided clues to future policy but also to big things in the offing. In 2005, instaforex broker review Raghuram Rajan, the former chairman of the RBI who was then the IMF chief economist, kicked up a storm at Jackson Hole with his paper ‘Has financial development made the world riskier? The symposium was a sort of farewell to Greenspan who was going to retire after presiding over a market that had turned extremely risky due to his easy money policies.
Jackson Hole
Other communities in the valley include Hoback, Kelly, Moose (Moose Wilson Road), Moran Junction, Teton Village, and Wilson. West of Jackson, Teton Pass crosses the southern end of the Teton Range, providing access to Alta on the western side of the Tetons, as well as Victor and Driggs in Idaho. This area was known as Pierre’s Hole and hosted the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous in 1832.
Changing Market Structures and Implications for Monetary Policy (
Reuters has reported investors expect Powell to deliver an aggressive tightening message and dash hopes for a rate cut next year. The theme will explore the emergence of economic constraints during the pandemic and how supply considerations have returned etoro broker review to center stage. When it began in 1978, it was what it was expected to be—just another regional conference of economists. Aiming to lift the profile of the conference, the Kansas City Fed held it at a scenic location in Colorado in 1981.
News
