Did Beyoncé 'Bleed the Swedes?': The Daily Money
Happy Thursday! This is Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy bringing you the Daily Money headlines.
After 10 straight interest rate hikes, the Federal Reserve decided to take a pause yesterday while indicating that two more increases would be likely this year in the battle against high inflation.
The decision leaves the benchmark rate at a range of 5% to 5.25%, marking the first meeting at which the central bank hasn’t raised its federal funds rate since January 2022.
"As we get closer and closer to our destination (the peak rate), it's reasonable, it's common sense to go a little slower," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference.
The decision to halt the interest hikes should provide a reprieve to consumers who have seen steady increases in rates for credit cards, adjustable-rate mortgages and other loans. Yet Americans, especially seniors, have benefited from the hikes by finally reaping higher bank savings yields after years of meager returns.
The Beyoncé effect – did she ‘Bleed the Swedes’? (note: ‘Succession’ reference)
We always knew the Swedes were into “Money, Money, Money,” but unless Michael Grahn, Danske Bank’s Chief Economist for Sweden, is a “Beautiful Liar,” Queen Bey has caused inflation to spike in the Scandinavian country.
Apparently, the kick-off of Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour in Stockholm last month may have contributed to the higher-than-expected inflation of 9.7% in May, according to Grahn’s analysis which he posted on his Twitter account.
Grahn calculated that Beyoncé's much-hyped concert likely accounted for about 0.2 of the 0.3 percentage points added to inflation by hotels and restaurant prices in Sweden's capital as fans flocked to her concert.
Ticket platform SeatGeek says that the average price for Beyoncé concert tickets is about $1,000, but you can find them for as low as $150. Select seats can cost up to $5,000. In May, online users in Sweden appeared to say that the average ticket for her Stockholm show was on sale for about $200.
All we can say is: Mamma Mia!
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