Central bankers were in reflective mood at last week’s annual Jackson Hole confab. At the 2022 meeting, when inflation was close to 40-year highs, the message from monetary policymakers was simple: interest rates must go higher. This year, while inflation remains “too high”, in the words of US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell, higher rates have at least begun to pinch demand and price growth is easing. The discussions instead shifted towards the evolving global economic landscape, from the climate transition to geopolitical tensions. The message: central banking is only going to become more complex.
在上週的傑克森霍爾(Jackson Hole)年度會議上，央行行長們表現出了反思。2022年的會議召開時，通膨接近40年高點，貨幣政策制定者發出的資訊很簡單：利率必須提高。今年，儘管用美聯準(Fed)主席傑伊•鮑爾(Jay Powell)的話說，通膨仍然「過高」，但提高的利率至少已開始抑制需求，價格上漲也在放緩。討論轉向了不斷演變的全球經濟格局，從氣候轉型到地緣政治緊張局勢。這次傳遞的資訊是：央行如何制定政策只會變得更加複雜。