(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming gets underway with a dinner on Thursday evening. Here’s what to expect from the two-day conference featuring central bankers from around the world:
Returning to an in-person conference for the first time since the pandemic spread in 2020, the heavyweight lineup is headlined by Fed Chair Jerome Powell with a speech on Friday morning, at 10 a.m. Washington time.
Investors will be listening closely for any clues about how the US central bank is thinking about the pace of interest rate increases ahead of its Sept. 20-21 policy meeting, after raising its benchmark rate by three-quarters of a percentage point at each of its last two meetings.
Fun fact: Powell’s remarks will be livestreamed from the lodge in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, taking viewers for the first time inside the conference room where the Fed has held its prestigious retreat since 1982.
Kansas City Fed President Esther George, hosting the conference this year for a final time ahead of her mandatory retirement at age 65, joked during her after-dinner remarks that conference attendees should watch their speed of hiking in the surrounding park.
“First of all be mindful of the pace of hiking on the trails. Some hikers move at a slow pace and others hike expeditiously,” she cautioned.
She also offered the audience a serious reminder: “This year’s theme discusses constraints as one of the central elements of the current policy environment. Strong demand and insufficient supply have pushed inflation up around the world.”
Fed in Force
In addition to Powell, Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard and three other governors will attend as well -- Lisa Cook, Philip Jefferson and Chris Waller -- as well as all 12 regional Fed presidents.
Several of them plan public comments ahead of the chair’s speech with Atlanta’s Raphael Bostic appearing on CNBC at 8.30 a.m. Washington time, followed by Bloomberg Television interviews with Philadelphia’s Patrick Harker at 9 a.m., St. Louis’s James Bullard at 9:15 a.m. and another appearance by Bostic at 9:30 a.m. Cleveland Fed chief Loretta Mester will speak on Bloomberg TV at 11:30 a.m.
The conference will also be attended by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde did not make the trip, but ECB Executive Board Member Isabel Schnabel is on a key panel Saturday. A number of other ECB officials, including the heads of the Bank of France and German Bundesbank, are also attending, as well as policy makers from Africa, Latin America and elsewhere.
Agenda Highlights
Four academic papers will be presented Friday and Saturday, and there will be panel discussions featuring policy makers each day as well.
The Friday panel, which will take place at 12:55 p.m. Washington time, is titled “An End to Pre-Pandemic Trends or Just a Temporary Interruption?” It includes as panelists International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath, as well as Harvard University economics professor Jason Furman and University of California-San Diego economics professor Valerie Ramey.
The Saturday panel, which will be at 12:25 p.m. Washington time, is titled “The Outlook for Policy Post-Pandemic.” It includes as panelists Banque de France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Swiss National Bank Chairman Thomas Jordan, Bank of Korea Governor Chang Yong Rhee and the ECB’s Schnabel.
The papers to be presented on Friday and Saturday will look at topics including maximum employment, potential output, fiscal constraints and central bank balance sheets.