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Taylor Swift helped lift the US economy this summer with her Eras Tour — she can't get back to the states soon enough

Sep 17, 2023, 17:33 IST
Business Insider
The Summer of Taylor Swift is over for Swifties and the US economy.Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images
  • The Summer of Taylor Swift is over for the US economy.
  • Swift proved to be "an economic phenomenon," but now she is overseas.
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The Summer of Taylor Swift is over, and that could be bad news for a US economy that is suddenly under fire from several directions.

After five months and 53 shows, the economic impact of Swift's "The Eras Tour" was monumental and non-stop. Consider the following:

"Taylor Swift's 'Eras' tour is rewriting the playbook of entertainment economics," Chris Leyden, director of growth marketing at SeatGeek told CNN. "She's not just a performer — she's an economic phenomenon."

Taylor Swift performs in Arlington, Texas.Omar Vega/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Swift's bottom line is also booming, with Bloomberg News estimating that she made more than $10 million from each show. But even some of that is going back into the US economy.

In August, it was announced that Swift gave $100,000 bonuses to the truckers on her tour. One trucking company's CEO told CNN the money was "life-changing" for many of the employees.

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Swift has also made large donations to food banks in cities where she performed.

Swift's perfect post-pandemic timing

Most of this is the magic of Swift and her music, but the timing couldn't have been better. As the pandemic was winding down, Americans were craving a chance to get out and spend on experiences.

"We are in an experience economy where people crave going out and participating in social events," Alice Enders, a music industry analyst at Enders Analysis and a former senior economist at the World Trade Organization told CNN. "It's no surprise that people are flocking to this Eras Tour experience in what is increasingly an otherwise digital environment we live in."

This appears to be borne out in recent economic data showing people are spending money but not on tangible items.

Swifties at a concert.Grace Smith/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

And in some ways, pandemic-era working conditions helped create this wild summer. As people were itching to get out again, many were still working from home. This gave people a chance to work on the road a bit, get out of town, and maybe stay there a little longer.

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"Remote work created the flexibility to travel for events and shows," Andrew Heilmann from Robert Douglas told Moody's Analytics. "We are just now at a point to be able to truly see the supporting data around the impact of 'bleisure travel' on hotel performance and if people willing to travel for an event or show really did turn what was a pre-covid 1-night trip into a 3-night trip."

One Swiftie who spoke with Insider called their "Eras Tour" trip "a little bit concert, a little bit vacation." My family and I agreed. When it came time to choose a summer vacation, instead of Disney or some tropical locale, we landed on LA for a second dose of "The Eras Tour."

The author's Taylor Swift bracelets, including one for his favorite TS song, "The Lakes."Cork Gaines/Business Insider

With the help of Swift's tour — and Beyoncé's "Rennaisance World Tour," as well as the "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" movie premieres — we ended up in an economic era with a fitting nickname: "Goldilocks." That is, the economy this summer was not too hot, not too cold.

Bad news for the US economy

While many worried about an oncoming recession, consumer spending held up the economy this summer. But now, a recent survey from Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse found that 21% of more than 500 investors predicted that personal consumption would shrink in the fourth quarter. A further 56% said consumption would reverse in early 2024.

Pandemic-era savings are running dry with record levels of credit card debt, student-loan payments are resuming, and we are about to hit the window for the delayed impact of higher interest rates. All of that adds up to a perfect storm of pressure on American consumers.

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A customer paying for movie tickets with a credit card.Klaus Vedfelt

Piper Sandler's Chief Global Economist, Nancy Lazar, recently warned that the economy was "overheating" and was about to get more "painful."

"Save your pennies because, unfortunately, the economic outlook is going to get worse before it gets better," Lazar told Fox News Digital, adding that it was "a time to hunker down and to try to maintain your savings rather get further into debt."

The temporary buzz is over

Swift is not returning to the US until October 2024 and then to only three cities. Beyoncé's tour is over, and the buzz for "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" is waning.

The movie industry will get a nice boost this fall from — you guessed it! — Taylor Swift, who is releasing a film version of "The Eras Tour."

Bloomberg analysts argued that the entertainment boost from this summer will not last with the end of the tours and what they described as the "once-in-blue moon" phenomenon of "Barbenheimer."

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"A large chunk of that strength comes from temporary factors," the analysts wrote. "These factors create a mirage of resilient consumption, when in fact it's running out of steam."

This will only be exasperated by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in Hollywood, which have caused the production of most movies to come to a screeching halt.

Taylor Swift.Fernando Leon/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

The economy needs more Swift.

We are already seeing world leaders begging her to bring her tour to their countries. And it may not be long before US mayors and governors do the same.

The good news is that Swift's impact will be back at some point as long as she continues to tour. Before the pandemic, she was touring every two or three years.

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Charlie Harding, a music journalist and co-host of the podcast @SwitchedOnPop, told Time that Swift is not going anywhere.

"Taylor Swift has the capacity to be around for a whole lifetime," he told Time.

For the US economy, hopefully, that means more tour stops.

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