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(Bloomberg) -- After a strong start to the summer, the outlook for oil prices is unravelling — leaving trading desks, supermajors and Middle East producers grappling with what comes next. Most Read from BloombergSydney Central Train Station Is Now an Architectural DestinationChicago Overcomes DNC Skeptics With Calm, Parties and SunNazi Bunker’s Leafy Makeover Turns Ugly Past Into Urban EyecatcherHow the Cortiços of São Paulo Helped Shelter South America’s Largest CityWith Housing Costs High, Dem

(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is winding down. Most Read from BloombergSydney Central Train Station Is Now an Architectural DestinationChicago's Migrant Surge Is Stirring Trouble for Democrats in DNC Host CityWith Housing Costs High, Democrats Hone YIMBY MessageHow the Cortiços of São Paulo Helped Shelter South America’s Largest CityWith Self-Driving Vans, Hamburg Tries to Make Microtransit WorkHere are some of the key

(Bloomberg) -- US inflation figures in the coming week will reinforce that long-awaited interest-rate cuts are coming soon, while a reading on consumer spending is seen indicating that the central bank has been successful at keeping the expansion intact.Most Read from BloombergSydney Central Train Station Is Now an Architectural DestinationChicago's Migrant Surge Is Stirring Trouble for Democrats in DNC Host CityWith Housing Costs High, Democrats Hone YIMBY MessageHow the Cortiços of São Paulo H

Federal Reserve holdings of mortgage bonds play a “central” role in how monetary policy affects the economy's momentum, academics wrote in a paper to be presented at a central bank research conference Saturday. The paper takes stock of how the Fed uses increases and contractions in its holdings of Treasury and mortgage bonds to augment the changes it does with its interest rate target, actions collectively aimed to influence the economy's momentum. Known as quantitative easing, or QE, Fed purchases of Treasury and mortgage bonds starting in earnest in the spring of 2020 caused central bank holdings to more than double to a peak of around $9 trillion by the summer of 2022.

The Federal Reserve's credibility in the eyes of financial markets helped in its battle against inflation over the past two years, but it had to be earned afresh with interest rate hikes that backed up policymakers' verbal promises to restore price stability, according to new research presented at the Kansas City Fed's annual research conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. A strong perception in financial markets that a central bank is committed to inflation control can make monetary policy more effective, prompting markets to shift financial conditions faster and lowering inflation with a less serious hit to economic growth than would otherwise be the case.

Conflicting federal policies may force thousands of residents in flood-prone areas to pay more for flood insurance or be left unaware of danger posed by dams built upstream from their homes and worksites, according to an Associated Press review of federal records and data. To get the best discount on flood insurance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s points-based rating system requires communities to chart all the homes, businesses and critical facilities endangered by a potential dam failure and warn people of their risk. Federal “dam information sharing procedures costs communities points, homeowners money, and potentially citizens lives,” a California emergency services official warned in a January 2020 presentation to FEMA's National Dam Safety Review Board at an invitation-only meeting attended by dozens of federal and state officials.

Thousands of people live downstream from dams yet may not always realize the risks. As the climate changes, heavy rains from intense storms have put communities at greater jeopardy from flooding and placed the nation’s aging dams at greater risk of failing. An Associated Press review found that conflicting federal policies may be inhibiting the ability of local officials to share details with residents, businesses and other property owners about the places that get could inundated with floodwaters if a dam were to fail.