Today, Fed Chairman Powell is speaking at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. Investors globally will be closely watching Powell’s speech and looking for clues on the Fed’s aggressive interest rate campaign. The remarks made by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in 2023 will mean a lot for the markets.

Flashback 2022 – In his annual speech to the symposium in 2022, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reaffirmed that the institution will ‘use our tools vigorously’ to combat inflation. In addition, Powell warned of “some pain to households and businesses” as a result of rising interest rates in his 2022 address. Failure to restore price stability, on the other hand, will result in substantially more hardship,”

As it stands today, the Fed has raised rates to over 5% and although the headline has fallen, it is the core inflation that remains sticky.

The 2023 Economic Policy Symposium – ‘Structural Shifts in the Global Economy,’ is being held from August 24 to August 26. On Day 2, in the August 25 Friday Session, Jerome Powell, Chair – Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System will deliver the Keynote address. Powell’s remarks will be streamed on the Kansas City Fed’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/kansascityfed on Friday, Aug. 25 at 10:05 a.m. ET/8:05 a.m. MT.

The Fed’s overarching purpose remains unfulfilled. The rate hikes were designed to slow price growth and undermine demand. Despite a slowing in inflation, the job market and consumer demand look to be solid, and the US GDP growth rate reflects a thriving economy.

One thing is certain: the US Fed will not stop until inflation is controlled and there are no signs of re-emergence, as it did during the Volcker era. Everyone’s attention will be focused on Fed Chair Powell’s assessment of the recessionary outlook, which could have long-term ramifications for markets and the Fed’s own monetary policy.

Annual inflation has declined from a multi-decade high of 9.1% in March 2022 to 3% in June 2023, owing largely to the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive policy of raising interest rates from near zero to above 5% in just over 18 months.

With headline inflation under control, core inflation is expected to fall further. The timing of the Fed’s pivot may be of concern to financial markets. The markets will be on tenterhooks as they await the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank’s remarks at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium 2023.

The Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in 2023 may affect the course of economic policy in light of the shifting economic conditions that the world’s economies are facing.

Central bankers, finance ministers, academics, and financial market participants from around the world will convene in Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Valley to discuss important economic and financial issues. Fed Chairs have traditionally utilized the Jackson Hole Symposium to provide an update on the status of the economy and to hint at potential policy adjustments. The 2023 Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium will take place at a time when most global central banks are nearing the end of their efforts to contain inflation.

The Fed’s July meeting minutes highlighted inflation upside risks, allowing for policy tightening, but also highlighted the economic risks of overstepping rates, relying on incoming data. The next issue for developed countries may be to maintain growth rather than see their economies fall into recession.