Thought Of The Week Jackson Hole Symposium, Powell Primed for Second Term Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank could begin reducing its monthly bond purchases this year although it will not be in a hurry to begin raising interest rates during the annual Jackson Hole symposium held between 26-28 August. Powell highlighted that tapering should not be interpreted as a direct sign for the timing of rate hike as that would be subjected to different conditions – 1) Maximum employment 2) Inflation has reached 2% and is on track to moderately exceed 2% for some time. Since the messages was in line with market expectations with Powell sticking to the same script during its Fed meeting, investors took the news of the coming taper in their stride, avoiding any hint of the so-called 2013 “tantrum” when the Fed took markets by surprise when it unexpectedly announced...