Marketplace Morning Report: “It's almost time for Jackson Hole again”

Date: August 18, 2025
Host: Nancy Marshall Genzer (in for David Brancaccio)
Key Guests:

• Julia Coronado, Founder and President, Macro Policy Perspectives
• Laura Hyten Ginseng (BBC World Service)
• Various Nigerian cassava experts and farmers

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on two main stories:

1. The upcoming Federal Reserve symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where investors eagerly await Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech for signals about the future of U.S. interest rates amidst economic uncertainty.
2. The global economic potential of cassava, featuring a BBC World Service report on Nigeria—the world’s top producer—attempting to turn its cassava crop into greater global export success.

Segment 1: Fed Chair Powell Heads to Jackson Hole

[00:18 – 03:34]

Main Points

• Jackson Hole Symposium:

  • Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak Friday at Jackson Hole, Wyoming—a closely watched event for clues on interest rate direction.
  • Investors, economists, and policymakers are watching for any hints at a rate cut.

• Policy Dilemma:

  • The Fed is balancing conflicting pressures:
    • Higher inflation (partially blamed on President Trump’s tariffs).
    • Weakening job market.
  • As Julia Coronado puts it, “There are risks to both sides of their mandates: stable prices and maximum employment.” [01:03]

• Interest Rate Strategy:

  • Powell's likely approach is caution:
    • “If they lower interest rates, that might help the job market but stoke inflation and vice versa.” [01:26]
    • The Fed has so far held rates steady, waiting for clearer data trends.
    • Coronado predicts that if a rate cut comes in September, it’ll likely be “one and no promises of more. Just wait and see.” [02:17]

• Data Dependence (“It depends on the data”):

  • Upcoming inflation and employment reports for August will be key to the Fed’s decision.
  • “They will be very important reports that will help inform which is the greater risk and what direction should interest rates go and how quickly.” [02:39]

• Policy Framework:

  • Powell is expected to “underscore the importance of having an independent central bank” and stress that decisions are made “judiciously and independently from political interference.” [03:09]

Notable Quotes

• Julia Coronado on the Fed's bind:
  “What do they do? If they lower interest rates, that might help the job market but stoke inflation and vice versa. If they hold rates too high, that might keep inflation in check but hurt the labor market.” [01:23]

• On what’s next:
  “They may go ahead with a rate cut in September… probably one and no promises of more. Just wait and see. Gather more data. See which risk is the greater risk.” [02:14]

• On the significance of Fed independence:
  “It’s likely to reaffirm the importance… of having an independent central bank with a framework built for many different situations.” [03:06]

Memorable Moment

• The episode succinctly captures the central tension facing the Fed—caught between the need to support a struggling labor market while inflation remains stubbornly high.

Segment 2: Cassava’s Global Economic Ambitions

[03:56 – 07:02]
Field Report by BBC’s Laura Hyten Ginseng, from Southeast London and Nigeria

Main Points

• Cassava’s Global Significance:

  • Cassava (also known as yucca) is crucial for food security, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Nigeria is the world’s largest producer but exports little of it globally.

• Versatility:

  • Cassava is made into multiple products: starch, flour, gary, fufu, ethanol, glue.
  • Cassava underpins diets around the world, especially in developing countries.

• Dependence on Cassava:

  • Professor Lateef Sani says:
    “If you take cassava away, it’s like a third world… War, World War Three… In terms of survival, it’s going to be tough.” [05:19 – 05:26]

• Challenges for Nigerian Farmers:

  • Smallholder farmers do all labor manually, facing tough working conditions.
  • Mrs. Kemi (farmer in Ogun State):
    “We labor a lot. Even at times we might not be able to complete the planting because of the stress and the hard labor. If we use machine planting work, agriculture will be very, very easy. But I don’t have enough money to afford it…” [05:46]

• Potential for Export Growth:

  • The global cassava market is worth $3.5 billion; Nigeria contributes only about $1 million.
  • Dr. Mustafa Bacano’s strategy:
    • Organize smallholder farmers into clusters to gain access to bank loans and processing machinery, increasing scale, productivity, and export potential.
    • “By the time we’re able to identify their farmlands, we are able to know what exactly is it they need and what exactly is the challenges.” [06:23]

• Economic Transformation:

  • Successful aggregation and mechanization could “transform the Nigerian economy.” [06:57]

Notable Quotes

• Professor Lateef Sani on cassava’s importance:
  “If you take cassava away, it’s like a third world. War, World War three. In terms of survival, it’s going to be tough.” [05:19 – 05:26]

• Mrs. Kemi, on the hardships of manual farming:
  “If we use machine planting work, agriculture will be very, very easy. But I don’t have enough money to afford it because we cannot apply our whole capital on machine alone.” [05:46]

Timestamps of Key Segments

• Fed policy dilemmas & Jackson Hole: [00:18 – 03:34]
• Cassava & Nigeria’s export ambitions: [03:56 – 07:02]

Takeaways

• The economic world awaits Powell’s Jackson Hole speech for direction on the next steps for U.S. monetary policy, with the Fed walking a tightrope between inflation and unemployment.
• Farther afield, fundamental economic transformation can hinge on humble crops—like cassava in Nigeria—which, if supported and organized, may become the backbone of both food security and global trade.