Powell Defends Fed Response to Low Inflation

Q: How do you address concern about GameStop etc bubbles causing economic fallout should they burst?

- A: For context: our response to the shock from the pandemic was unprecedented in nature and size... We've done what we could first to restore market function and to provide a bit of relief then to support the recovery and, hopefully, we'll be able to do the third thing, avoid longer run damage to the economy.

- Our role is dual mandate, and also look after financial stability... With such high unemployment, "it's very much appropriate that monetary policy be highly accommodative to support maximum employment and averaging two percent over time."

- So on fin stability, we have a framework, don't look at one or two things. We look at leverage in the banking / non-banking system and corporates and households, look at funding risk. Overall if you look across that range of readings, it's moderate.

- When we get to the non-financial sector, we don't have jurisdiction over that. "There are many things that go into setting asset prices. If you look at what's really been driving asset prices in the last couple of months, it isn't monetary policy. It's expectations about vaccines and also fiscal policy. Those are the news items that have been driving asset asset values in recent months...I think the connection between low interest rates and asset values is probably something not as tight as people think because a lot of different factors are driving asset prices at any given time."