Source: Getty Images
Madi Mann, Grace Maxwell, Filippa Balle
9/11/23
The Wall Street Journal reports that “Taylornomics'' are currently taking over the world.
On July 23rd, 2023 the well established Wall Street Journal released an article titled “It’s Taylor
Swift’s Economy, and We’re All Living in It.” In this article, the effects of the North American
leg of Swift’s tour are described in great detail. The journal claims that her current US tour has
aided entire cities in recovering from the damage that the pandemic has caused. She is filling
entire football stadiums; bringing in enough people that her tour is estimated to be the biggest
tour in history, and every city seems to be taking advantage of this. A local donut shop selling
donuts with Taylor’s face on them in Minneapolis had to stop taking orders after having to work
18 hour days. In Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum experienced its best
month in a 65 year history with 114,000 tickets sold after creating a Taylor Swift style exhibit.
Those are just a few of the examples of the benefits local businesses are experiencing in this city,
and the power she seems to hold over the cities themselves is something that should not be
ignored. Wall Street Journal reports that in Cincinnati, spending related to her shows reached an
estimated 48 million dollars. Glendale Arizona temporarily renamed itself Swift City, and she
was named the honorary mayor of Santa Clara, California.
The Wall Street Journal in itself is a media outlet that caters towards the business industry
of the world. Therefore, this article was a highlight piece essentially praising Swift for the
positive impact she is having on the economy. It should not be ignored however, that due to their
position as the world’s leading business publication, their review does hold some bias. They are
looking at one piece of the way that these shows impact the world. Therefore, the environmental
impact that Swift’s shows are having is not something that is considered.
Throughout this article it is innocently explained that fans have been “Filling hotels,
packing restaurants, and crowding bars.” Restaurants naturally generate quite a bit of waste,
whether it is from food waste or plastic usage. Hotels also tend to have similar environmental
issues on top of the fact that they consume mass amounts of energy and water. The surge of
people that Taylor draws into each city has to increase the negative environmental effects.
Similarly, as Swift has announced her international leg, the journal reports that the New Zealand
airline had to create an additional 14 flights to accommodate 3,000 more people trying to book
flights to Australia. This will surely have an impact on the CO2 emissions being released into the
air.
This brings up two important questions that should be brought to light. The first one
being, is the positive economic impact Swift’s tour is generating worth the possible
environmental damage it is creating? Another question to pose is are there ways to cause less
damage to the environment while still getting to enjoy the magic that is Taylor Swift’s
performances? There is no stopping the enigmatic force that is Taylor Swift, but hopefully fans
can take the time during the pause in her North American tour shows to learn just a little more
about how to have the time of their lives while still being more conscious of the environment
around them.
Work Cited
Pisani, J. (2023, July 23). It’s Taylor Swift’s Economy, and We’re All Living in It. WSJ.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/taylor-swift-taylornomics-concert-eras-tour-local-economy-9fa1d49
2
Yorumlar