US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is all set to deliver his last speech as the Fed chief on Friday, Aug. 22 at the Jackson Hole Conference, in Wyoming. This comes after the US central bank last announced its policy decision in July and kept the interest rates steady for the fifth straight meeting. In his valedictory speech to the conference before his term ends next May, Powell faces a choice on his approach towards the policy stance.
Recent US economic data has confounded his data-dependent strategy by pulling in both directions. US Fed policymakers are split whether higher inflation or higher unemployment is the bigger risk. Global investors and the Trump administration have strong expectations that interest rates will fall at the US Fed’s September meeting regardless.
Powell’s speech against the backdrop of the Grand Teton Mountains near Jackson Hole will cap a tumultuous eight years punctuated by a global pandemic that demanded aggressive policy invention, a follow-on outbreak of inflation that prompted record-setting rate hikes, and an incessant stream of personal attacks from President Donald Trump.
According to economists, while Powell has pivoted hard when needed, the current moment may find him still straddling the US Fed’s twin goals of stable prices and low unemployment.
This is a developing story
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