Once a year, the leadership of both the European Central Bank (ECB) and the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) go to the mountains for policy enlightenment. The ECB conducts a forum every June in Sintra, a town in the foothills of the eponymous Portuguese mountain range.

And the Fed convenes in late August in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the Kansas City branch’s economic symposium. In retrospect, this year’s remarks from on high by ECB President Mario Draghi and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell provide insight into the global outlook and the two banks’ recent policy actions, which have been coincident, but not coordinated.