Kevin Warsh and three other officials who lived through the 2008 global financial crisis will share a stage this week, as the spectre of renewed turmoil remains at the forefront of central bankers' minds.
Wednesday will mark the Federal Reserve chair's first public appearance outside the United States since he took office in May, at the European Central Bank's annual forum in Portugal, alongside ECB President Christine Lagarde and other figures who played prominent roles during the crisis that roiled markets.
Last year in Sintra, his predecessor Jerome Powell received a standing ovation and was repeatedly praised for his resilience while enduring attacks from the US president.
Concerns
The forum is expected to feature discussions on financial stability concerns and the artificial intelligence boom, with those worries anticipated to cast a shadow over the conversations.
Just days ago, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem warned that excessive investment in the United States was "paving the way for a painful correction." Last month, the European Central Bank issued similar warnings about the risks of market disruption in its semi-annual assessment.
Crisis lessons
Each of the four central bank governors participating in Wednesday's session carries personal memories of what can go wrong. In 2008, Macklem was at the Finance Ministry in Ottawa, attending meetings that ranged from the G7 to the Financial Stability Board. Governor Andrew Bailey, then an official at the Bank of England, was managing bank bailout operations, while Lagarde was France's finance minister at the time.
Warsh himself was a Federal Reserve governor who played a pivotal role in helping design the massive government capital injection into the nine largest American banks in the autumn of 2008.
Bloomberg Economics analysts said: "With Warsh appearing for the first time as Fed chair alongside Lagarde, Bailey, and Macklem, the discussion is likely to extend well beyond inflation, focusing on how central banks can enable innovation while navigating a new landscape of geopolitical uncertainty and AI-related financial stability risks."
Simona Delle Chiaie, chief euro-area economist, said: "Central bank governors in Sintra this week may also pause to mourn one of their own, following the recent death of another former Fed chair, Alan Greenspan, whose 18-year tenure was overshadowed by the 2008 crisis."
On a separate front, investors will be focused on the Bank for International Settlements' annual meeting, US jobs data, inflation readings across Asia and the euro area, and a potential interest rate increase in Colombia.