- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was asked about "Barbie" and Taylor Swift Wednesday.
- He responded by highlighting rising consumer confidence, which he said could boost growth.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell fielded a question about the "Barbie" movie and Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Wednesday after the central bank raised interest rates again.
The New York Times' Jeanna Smialek asked Powell whether he thought massive demand for "Barbie" and Eras tickets were signs that "the American consumer is in very good shape".
Powell responded by highlighting the economy's overall strength – but warned that too large of a rebound in growth could lead to prices soaring again.
"The strength of the economy, overall, that's a good thing. It's good to see that, of course," he said.
"But… at the margin, stronger growth could lead over time to higher inflation and that would require an appropriate response from monetary policy," Powell added. "So we'll be watching that carefully and seeing how it evolves over time."
Economists have pointed to demand for both "Barbie" and Swift tickets as signs that Americans are willing to spend, which could boost growth.
Greta Gerwig's plastic and fantastic surrealist comedy brought in $155 million at the box office last weekend, blowing out its rival "Oppenheimer" to have the best opening of any film in 2023 so far.
Meanwhile, the Fed itself highlighted the Eras Tour boosting hotel revenues in Philadelphia in the latest edition of its monthly economic review, the Beige Book.
Smialek's question was one of the few highlights of the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which otherwise went largely as expected.
As much as 99% of traders had expected the 25-basis-point interest-rate hike that the central bank brought in, according to Bloomberg data.
The benchmark S&P 500 stock-market index briefly rose after it shared its latest decision but finished the day trading flat – although the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.2% to notch its longest winning streak since 1987.
While Powell didn't share any more thoughts on "Barbie" or Swift, he said elsewhere in his press conference that his own staff no longer expect a recession in the US – and added that the central bank will take a "data-dependent approach" to future interest-rate decisions.