‘Big questions’ and few easy answers for Fed chair at annual retreat

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — There is a lot riding on Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech here Friday morning at the Fed’s storied annual retreat in the Tetons. Previous Fed chairs have used the annual Jackson Hole address to deliver major policy announcements, and Warsh said last month that he would use the occasion to “frame the big questions” facing the Fed. But just three months into the job, Warsh faces a growing list of more immediate questions for the central bank he leads. The inflation rate in July was 3.4%, still well above the Fed’s 2% target rate. And with oil prices showing no sign of returning to pre-Iran war levels this year, pressure is increasing on the Fed to combat that sticky inflation by raising interest rates at its next policy-setting meeting in September.

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