Central bankers and policymakers will, starting Thursday, be meeting with academics and economists at the Federal Reserves annual symposium in Jackson Hole. This years topic for discussion is not of the generic variety such as the Challenges for Monetary Policy theme from the 2019 conference. Nor will it serve up geopolitical scapegoat theories for monetary policy failures such as last years topic, Structural Shifts in the Global Economy.
No, this years theme is intriguing because it offers just a hintthough we wont see the actual papers being discussed until they are presentedthat Fed officials are not totally confident that the model and tools they use to conduct monetary policy are wholly reliable.
That would be a breakthrough, if admitted. The subject for the 2024 economic policy symposium is Reassessing the Effectiveness and Transmission of Monetary Policy. While an army of pundits are quick to decry any meshing of central bank issues with presidential politics, both the Democratic and Republican nominees would be smart to pay attention.