“We are in a strange situation,” said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “Every measure we have of U.S. economic performance, household balance sheets, household assets, unemployment rate — up and down the line, this is the best we’ve had it in 25 years, at least, and in some measures in decades. We have to recognize that’s true. And that people just don’t see it.”That is part of the reason Powell may stop short of declaring mission accomplished.
“We’re in a place where I think the work that we’ve done positions us to be able to be patient,” Collins said. “Taking longer, more holistic looks matters.” Plenty is unknown. The topic of the Jackson Hole conference — a “who’s who” gathering of the world’s leading economists and policymakers — focuses on shifts in the global economy. Central bankers are closely watchingMeanwhile, some economists are debating whether the Fed should raise its inflation target from 2 percent, a move that,More immediately though, the Fed’s top focus is on zapping the remaining sources of inflation. For months, rent has dominated as a key driver of price increases.
Mary Daly, president of the San Francisco Fed, said there is a kind of exhaustion pulsing through the economy. In conversations across her district — which spans California and eight other Western states — Daly said she routinely hears from people who are financially scraping by. There is anxiety lingering for many households, after dealing with inflation or worrying about whether another recession is around the corner, she told The Post earlier this month.