An Apt Place and an Awkward Time

The story holds that the Economic Symposium at Jackson Hole run by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (FRBKC) achieved its iconic status for a simple reason: former Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Paul Volcker loved fly fishing. When the FRBKC chose the venue by happenstance, Volcker signed up immediately. But once he was on the agenda, other Fed governors and Reserve Bank presidents elbowed in. So many policymakers in one place attracted media, and the private sector viewed it as a hot and increasingly hard-to-get ticket. The rest followed. To be fair, FRBKC guidance on content helped but happenstance as history is always a winning narrative.