This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s August 28, 2026 Jackson Hole speech deserves careful attention because it provides the clearest indication yet of how he intends to define Federal Reserve credibility. Warsh declared that the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent inflation target is “firm” and “fixed,” said current inflation remains too high and concluded that the Fed’s “predominant focus right now should be on prices.” He also made clear that he regards short-term interest rates as the Fed’s predominant monetary-policy tool and unconventional interventions as appropriate principally for genuine crises. Warsh and Rate Hikes: CIR On Point On July 29, Creative Investment Research (CIR) issued a warning titled “Federal Reserve May Consider Rate Hike to Establish Chairman Warsh’s Inflation-fighting Credibility.” We argued that Warsh faced an unusual institutional problem: as a newly installed chairman operating amid intense political pressure for lower rates, he might feel compelled to establi...

 Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has launched one of the most ambitious internal reviews of the central bank in decades. Five new advisory task forces will examine the Federal Reserve's approach to communications, balance sheet policy, economic data, productivity and jobs, and inflation frameworks—the analytical foundations that shape U.S. monetary policy. The effort is significant. Chairman Warsh has made clear that he intends to reconsider many of the assumptions that have guided the Federal Reserve since the Global Financial Crisis, arguing that the economy has changed dramatically and that the central bank must modernize its analytical tools. The task forces are expected to make recommendations to the Federal Open Market Committee later this year. Yet one aspect of the announcement deserves far more attention than it has received. Among the fifteen external leaders selected to guide these task forces, there are no Black economists, business leaders, financial market expert...