In his speech this week for the annual Jackson Hole conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will talk about the central bank’s long-awaited review of monetary policy. Until recently, with the economy growing steadily, the challenge of coping with the next recession seemed almost academic. Now, with the U.S. mired in yet another sudden, severe and uniquely testing slowdown, the review takes on new gravity. The Fed is grappling not just with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also with a change in the underlying economy. The problem is a persistent fall in the so-called neutral interest rate — the ... (full story)