What the Hawks Didn’t Get at Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole is an unlikely place to look for rebels. Titans of global monetary policy sent out a largely unchallenged message from the Federal Reserve’s summer retreat in Wyoming: Inflation is way too high and must be crushed, almost regardless of the cost to growth. Amid this festival of hawkishness, there were some nuanced and important voices from Asia that risk getting lost in all the hard talk.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell dominated the show, warning that interest rates are heading higher for longer. European Central Bank officials sounded similarly resolute. Where there was shading, it tended to come from places like Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. Not refutation, but mostly refinements. Still, they stood out and are significant given all the chest-thumping and aversion to any intimation of weakness.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda certainly expressed resolve, but of a very different nature to his Group of Seven counterparts. Inflation has exceeded the BOJ's 2% target for a few months, but Kuroda isn’t particularly impressed and ultra-loose policy still rules. “We have no choice other than continued easing until wages and prices rise in a stable and sustainable manner,” Kuroda said at one panel.