On March 21, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave a lecture titled “Restoring Price Stability” at the 38th Annual Economic Policy Conference National Association for Business Economics in Washington, D.C.

On the topic of inflation, foremost in the minds of most Americans, Powell admitted he and his colleagues grossly underestimated the tidal wave of rising prices that has produced the highest rate of inflation in 40 years. According to Powell, “The inflation outlook had deteriorated significantly this year even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”