Jackson Hole theme: "The Changing Policy Landscape"

   Once again, financial markets worldwide will turn their attention to Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday for fresh clues to whether the Federal Reserve will embark on further moves to stimulate the U.S. economy.

    With no meetings scheduled for the Federal Reserve’s policy-making body until Sept. 12-13, Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to use the conference in the northern Rockies to update markets on his vision of how the economy has evolved since the FOMC's last meeting on July 31-Aug. 1.

    Bernanke’s speeches at the symposium, organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, have become famous after he aired the idea of a new round of quantitative easing (QE) in August 2010. Three months later the Fed launched QE2, sparking a nine-month period of optimism.

    Will Bernanke again show his hand?

    Speculation has been building for weeks, with commentators initially confident that another round of QE was coming. Recently, however, analysts are starting to doubt that further stimulus is necessary given better U.S.  economic data.

    The Kansas City Fed has sponsored a symposium for central bankers, finance ministry officials and other financial market participants on important economic issues every year since 1978. Since 1982 the symposium has taken place in Jackson Hole.

    This year’s topic is “The Changing Policy Landscape”: 

    “The 2012 Jackson Hole Symposium will provide a range of perspectives on the challenges facing policymakers in the aftermath of the financial crises and the changing policy landscape in which they now operate,” the program says.

    The conference takes place at the Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and starts on Thursday, August 30 with a dinner.

    August 31: After breakfast, Ben Bernanke gives his opening address, followed by a presentation by Professor Kristin Forbes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on “Identifying and Mitigating Contagion.”

     Then Andrew Haldane of the Bank of England talks about “Ensuring Long Term Financial Stability” followed by Professor Michael Woodford of Columbia University who talks about “Accomodation at the Zero Lower Bound.”
    After lunch, Bank of International Settlements General Manager Jaime Caruana ends the formal session with a speech about “Policymaking in an Interconnected World.”

    Saturday, Sept. 1: Professor Markus Brunnermeir of Princeton University speaks on “Leverage, Business Cycles and Monetary Policy” followed by Profession Edward Lazear of Stanford University who addresses the topic of “Labor Markets and Monetary Policy.”

    The conference ends with a panel discussion about “Global Policy Perspectives” where European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was scheduled to participate along with Professor Alan Blinder of Princeton and Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz of the Central Bank of Malaysia. Draghi pulled out of the conference to focus on issues in Europe.

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