Once a year, economic chiefs and finance ministers from around the globe get together in Jackson Hole, Wyoming to drink beer, wrestle steer, and talk about monetary policy. I am actually not sure about the first two events, but the gathering’s theme “Designing Resilient Monetary Police Frameworks for the Future” does include a symposium with Janet Yellen as the keynote speaker. Since most you were probably not in attendance at the rousing rhetoric delivered by the Chair of our very own Federal Reserve, here are the Cliff Notes:
The Fed has the tools to fight off the next recession. They may choose to broaden their asset purchases (they already own more now than at any other time in history) to regulate longer-term Note yields. Ms. Yellen anticipates gradual rate hikes over time, and the case for a hike by the end of the year has strengthened in recent months.
If I may collide worlds again by educing the elocution into a tidy metaphor: regarding current interest rates, now is the time to strike while the iron is hot. (!)
