Summary of Fed Chair Powell speaks at The Brookings Institute on economic outlook — 11/30/22

00:00:00 - 00:55:00

In this video, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen discusses the current state of the economy and the Fed's outlook. She notes that while unemployment is low, expansions tend to last around seven to eight years, and that the Chinese economy is slowing down.

• 00:00:00 In his speech at the Brookings Institution, Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell discusses the challenges of restoring price stability in the U.S. economy and the progress the Federal Reserve has made thus far. He notes that while inflation remains high, it is still too high for the Fed's goals, and that further progress will require continued stability in food and energy prices.
• 00:05:00 Fed chair Powell discusses the economic outlook and how it's still uncertain what rate will be sufficient to return inflation to two percent. He also notes that demand growth has slowed and inflation is still high in some core categories.
• 00:10:00 Fed Chair Powell spoke at the Brookings Institute on the economic outlook and discussed the factors contributing to a labor supply shortfall, including slower population growth and retirements in excess of what would be expected from population aging alone. While policies to support labor forces participation might have benefits for the workers who join the labor force and support overall economic growth, they will take time to implement and have their effects for the near term. Slower GDP growth this year has led to job gains stepping down by about 450,000 per month over the first seven months of the year, but this job growth remains far in excess of the pace needed to accommodate population growth over time.
• 00:15:00 This video reviews the economic outlook, with Fed Chair Powell discussing the need for continued slow growth and inflation below two percent, as well as wage growth, and the potential for wage increases to be faster in order to restore lost ground for workers.
• 00:20:00 The Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, spoke at The Brookings Institute about the current economy and the Fed's outlook. She discussed how job openings have decreased recently, but said that wage growth is still good for the majority of workers.
• 00:25:00 The Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, spoke at The Brookings Institute about how inflation has not behaved the way forecasters predicted and how policymakers are using forecasts of inflation to make policy decisions.
• 00:30:00 In his speech at Jackson Hole, Fed Chair Powell discusses the factors that go into the Fed's decision to raise or lower interest rates. He also discusses the Fed's policy of allowing reserves to shrink gradually until they reach a level that is "safe."
• 00:35:00 The Federal Reserve chair discusses the economic outlook, inflation, and risk management considerations.
• 00:40:00 Chairman Powell speaks at The Brookings Institute about the FED's views on unemployment and inflation. He suggests that while it is difficult to predict what the future holds, it is possible that things could go back to the opposite of what the FED thought with regards to the "star variables."
• 00:45:00 Fed Chair Powell spoke at The Brookings Institute on the economic outlook, noting that unemployment has recently fallen below the low and that inflation is currently low, which is good news for the economy. He also warned that if inflation rises, the Fed will need to take additional measures to protect the economy.
• 00:50:00 Fed Chair Powell speaks at The Brookings Institute on the economic outlook, noting that the labor market is tight, but wages are not rising as fast as inflation, and the labor share of GDP has not risen in a while. He believes that the right approach is to move quickly to get to a destination where maximum employment is possible. There is high uncertainty around this, but he thinks it's the right approach.
• 00:55:00 Fed Chair Janet Yellen spoke at The Brookings Institute on the economy, discussing how unemployment is low and how expansions tend to last seven to eight years. She also mentioned the impact of slowing Chinese economy on the U.S. economy, and how difficult it is to predict how long these lockdowns will last.