By Jon Hilsenrath
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo.--Wall Street's big investment banks are out
and the AFL-CIO is in this year at the Federal Reserve's Jackson
Hole Symposium.
William Spriggs, chief economist at the American Federation of
Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, is among the
attendees at the Fed symposium, an annual conference of global
central bankers. The theme of this year's discussion is labor
markets, and the Fed also invited Erica Groshen, commissioner of
the Bureau of Labor Statistics and a former New York Fed
economist.
A long list of global central bankers are also in attendance,
including European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, Bank of
Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, Augustin Carstens of the Bank of
Mexico, Alexandre Tombini from Brazil and Benjamin Broadbent,
deputy governor at the Bank of England.
The invitation list is mostly devoid of representatives from big
private-sector banks, with the exception of Jacob Frenkel, the
former Bank of Israel governor who now is chairman of J.P. Morgan
Chase International.
Economists and advisers from firms such as Goldman Sachs Group
Inc., Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and other banks and
hedge funds were long a staple at the Fed's annual meeting in the
Wyoming mountains. But top Fed officials have grown uncomfortable
in recent years with the advantages conferred on private-sector
economists from attending the high-profile event, where the world's
leading central bankers rub elbows with academics, journalists and
others.
As a result, the Kansas City Fed, which organizes the symposium,
has been paring the list of private-banker attendees.
"The primary audience for the Jackson Hole economic symposium
has always been central bankers," Kansas City Fed spokeswoman Diane
Raley said. "Based on the topic of discussion, the remainder of the
available seats varies from year to year by considering
participants who can bring relevant perspectives and insights to
the topic discussion. This year's symposium focuses on labor
markets, and the audience composition is designed to be a
complement to this important public policy discussion and
debate."
This year's list features a number of current and former members
of the Obama administration, including Jason Furman, chairman of
the Council of Economic Advisers, and Christina Romer, the former
CEA chair. A number of regional Fed bank presidents, including New
York Fed President William Dudley, also are in attendance.
One absence of note: Ksenia Yudaeva, first deputy governor of
the Bank of Russia, was a last minute no-show.
Write to Jon Hilsenrath at jon.hilsenrath@wsj.com