Kansas City's Fed President on What Everyone Will Be Talking About at Jackson Hole

Joe Weisenthal (0:02)

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Tracy Alloway (0:18)

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Odd Lots Podcast. I'm Tracy Alloway.

Joe Weisenthal (0:22)

And I'm Joe Weisenthal.

Tracy Alloway (0:23)

Joe, it's that time of year again.

Joe Weisenthal (0:25)

Jackson Hole week.

Tracy Alloway (0:26)

It's my favorite time of year.

Joe Weisenthal (0:27)

Yeah. So, I mean, it's a great time of year anyway, but in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, come on.

Tracy Alloway (0:33)

For many reasons. Okay, so this is the Kansas City Fed's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And they basically get together a bunch of different, you know, Fed presidents, a bunch of different speakers on economic policy. And then everyone geeks out while looking at mountains, basically.

Joe Weisenthal (0:50)

It's really extraordinary. So this will be the third year that we'll have been there. We are recording this August 18th, but by the time people are listening to this, the event will have just will be kicking off. It really is extraordinary because you really have the top minds in this stuff from truly all around the world. But also, it's late summer, people chill, people hike, people recognize that they're in an amazing location, and they would be wasting their time if they just spent the whole time inside talking monetary policy.

Tracy Alloway (1:18)

This is true, but I think part of the planning of this event is this idea of, okay, you get everyone out in this really nice place in the wilderness, and people are maybe a little bit more forthcoming, maybe a little bit more open to having creative discussions about policy. It's interesting, you mentioned people talking about this year's theme. I have a pop quiz for you, which is, do you remember the themes from the last two Jackson Holes that we went to? We've been to, this will be our third.

Joe Weisenthal (1:44)

I'm a little embarrassed to say, it's monetary policy in a changing world. No, actually, it's a good question.

Tracy Alloway (1:50)

You're not that far off actually. Last year, it was reassessing the effectiveness and transmission of monetary policy. The first Jackson Hole we went to in 2023, that was structural shifts in the global economy. That one, I got to say, a little, I could forgive you for forgetting that one. But this year's theme, it just came out, just got announced. This theme is labor markets in transition, demographics, productivity and macroeconomic policy. It's a good topic for many reasons. Obviously, the future of AI and its impact on the labor force will certainly fit under that particular thematic umbrella. But also, it goes straight into the heart of what a lot of Fed policy makers seem to be discussing right now, and arguing, right?

Joe Weisenthal (2:34)

All kinds of things, immigration, aging, etc. How does that bear on the data that we're seeing right now? It's a great topic for both the short term and the long term of monetary policy. So it should be a fascinating conference.

Tracy Alloway (2:45)

Right. And so on that note, I'm very happy to say we do in fact have the perfect guest. We are going to be speaking with Jeff Schmid. He is of course the president of the Kansas City Fed and responsible for putting on this event every year. So Jeff, thank you so much for coming on Odd Lots.

Jeffrey Schmid (3:00)

Oh, it's my pleasure. It's great to finally meet both of you officially, and we follow you quite intently. So it's really great to be on.

Joe Weisenthal (3:08)

We're leaving that in.

Tracy Alloway (3:09)

That's right. Well, I mean, it is mutual to be fair because we follow you quite intently. So first of all, let me just extend a personal thanks for putting on an event, which allows Joe and I to go to one of the most beautiful places on Earth every year. That is truly wonderful for both of us. And then I just, going back to the theme for a second, how do you come up with the themes for these events every year? Is there like a brainstorming session and everyone goes into a room and 12 hours later, you emerge with some sort of consensus, much like a FOMC meeting, I suppose.

Jeffrey Schmid (3:42)

Yeah, it's a great behind-baseball question. And as you can imagine, we're in our 48th year. So every year, immediately after it's over, we get in a room and we talk about what went well, what can we make better? And I really give credit to Joe Gruber, our chief economist, and his team. It's probably the most nerve-racking decision that has to be made because, you know, Jackson Hole will get over in late August, and then probably by sometime early the fourth quarter, you're starting to talk about what should we create a theme around for the following year. And so they actually end up deciding on that by the end of the year.