The latest central banker get-together in the wilds of Wyoming laid out rather neatly the dilemma facing the most influential policymakers in financial markets and the Maga rejig heading their way.
Bright and early local time in Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell took to the podium to deliver what will almost certainly be his last speech in this role at the Fed’s annual set-piece event.
It was, as you would expect from a serious speech by a serious person, a tightly-crafted and thoughtful affair — a careful articulation of the challenges the Fed is facing: a droopy jobs market that calls for interest rate cuts but a still-live threat of a pick-up in inflation that the central bank is loath to tolerate. This will be a tricky situation for his successor, whoever that is, to navigate, when Powell leaves his current role next May.