- Kansas City Fed Chief Esther L. George headlines news with taper talk
- At Jackson Hole[1], George makes big impact to a change in gender diversity
- 8 speakers on day 1 at economic gathering are women, up from 0 in 2009
Ahead of the online Jackson Hole symposium of economic titans, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George, among the most prominent women in finance [2]and economics, said it’s time to begin taper asset purchases. Her taper observations came among hawkish comments from some U.S. Federal Reserve officials on the eve of the first day of the Jackson Hole symposium on Aug 27. George is regarded as one of the most hawkish fed officials, and will become an FOMC[3] voting member next year. The first rate hike[4] looks increasingly likely in late 2022.
What’s remarkable and less reported is the change in the speaker lineup. On day one, 8 of 17 panelists and moderators were women. American economist and Northwestern University professor Janice Eberly chaired the conference. In addition to George herself, women on the agenda included International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath and Kristin Forbes, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist and former Bank of England[5]official.
University of Chicago economist and professor Veronica Guerrieri told the Jackson Hole audience central banks should maintain low interest rates for as long as possible to help job seekers move from industries decimated by COVID-19 to those that have grown during the pandemic.
For almost a half a century, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has sponsored the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium (and its predecessor) to tackle the toughest economic issues of the day. It is one of the longest-standing central banking conferences in
