THE annual central bank meeting in Jackson Hole has been concluded, which is of course good. Another positive development is that inflation has come significantly more under control than when the symposium took place at the same time last year. Some of the participating central banks have brought inflation more under control than others but this does not change the fact that there were several weighty challenges for the participants to discuss.

The annual event, organized by the US central bank's Kansas branch, was held in a nature park best known for skiing The hotel that forms the setting for the symposium every year was originally donated by Rockefeller to the nature park. Perhaps this capitalist aura attracts the leaders from the big central banks — otherwise, the truth is that the money doesn't really roll in that many economies around the globe.