Full agenda for the 2026 Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium
Key Takeaways
- •The 2026 Jackson Hole symposium theme is "Financial Innovation: Implications for Payments and Policy," marking a shift away from the inflation-cycle focus of the 2023 and 2024 editions.
- •The Kansas City Fed has convened the invitation-only retreat annually since 1978 and has held it at Jackson Lake Lodge inside Grand Teton National Park since 1982.
- •The formal program consists of two half-days: Friday sessions chaired by Kristin J. Forbes of MIT and Saturday sessions chaired by Anil Kashyap of the University of Chicago, preceded by a Thursday opening reception hosted by Jeffrey Schmid.
- •Friday's opening session has traditionally served as the platform for the Fed chair's keynote address, the moment most closely watched for signals about the policy outlook.
- •This year's event draws attention for Warsh's first Jackson Hole appearance, with Fed officials having flagged inflation risks in advance while the chair has remained silent on rates.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has published the full agenda for its 2026 Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, the annual gathering of central bankers, policymakers and economists held at Jackson Lake Lodge in Wyoming. The Kansas City Fed has convened the invitation-only retreat every year since 1978, staging it at Jackson Lake Lodge — inside Grand Teton National Park — since 1982, and it publishes the presented papers and discussion afterward as part of its symposium proceedings. This year's theme is "Financial Innovation: Implications for Payments and Policy."
The topic marks a turn from recent editions that focused on the inflation cycle — 2023's "Structural Shifts in the Global Economy" and 2024's "Reassessing the Effectiveness and Transmission of Monetary Policy" — toward how technological change in payments interacts with central banking. It arrives amid active work on the U.S. payments landscape, including the Federal Reserve's FedNow instant-payment service, launched in July 2023, and federal stablecoin legislation signed into law in July 2025.
All times below are Mountain Time (add two hours for Eastern Time).
Thursday, August 27
- 6:00 p.m. — Opening Reception and Dinner. Host: Jeffrey Schmid, President & CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Friday, August 28 (8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.)
- Session Chair: Kristin J. Forbes, MIT.
Saturday, August 29 (8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)
- Session Chair: Anil Kashyap, University of Chicago.
The formal program amounts to two half-days of sessions, running Friday morning into the early afternoon and concluding Saturday at midday. Friday's opening session has traditionally been the platform for the Fed chair's keynote address, the moment most closely watched for signals about the policy outlook. The complete agenda is available on the Kansas City Fed's official symposium page.
Much of the attention around this year's event centers on Warsh's Jackson Hole debut. In the run-up to the symposium, Fed officials have flagged inflation risks, while a preview noted that Warsh's silence on rates leaves the Fed and markets guessing before Jackson Hole. A further assessment observed that Jackson Hole hype has outrun Warsh's playbook of saying as little as possible.
