Persistent Inflation: It’s Taylor Swift’s Fault

UK inflation stayed at 2% last month, rather than continuing to fall as expected. This has been blamed by economists on Taylor Swift’s UK tour.

It is believed to be the first tour to bring in more than $1bn in direct revenues, and is alleged to have led to a rise in hotel prices in the UK cities in which she performed of 8.8%. This increase in hotel prices has in turn been enough to keep inflation from dipping below 2%.

The average spend per person attending one of her concerts, according to Barclaycard, was £848, including the (expensive) ticket, accommodation, merchandise, a new outfit (of course) and travel costs. Barclaycard estimate that her UK dates brought in £1bn. Whilst the money has been spent on attending her concert, there will be other areas in which it hasn’t been spent, of course.

World leaders have been lining up to encourage her to perform in their countries’ cities. For example, restaurants in California reported a 170% increase in sales around her concert, and others in Missouri reported a 50% rise in accommodation figures.

Chair of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, was cautious: “The strength of the economy, overall, that’s a good thing. It’s good to see that. But… stronger growth could lead to higher inflation and that would require an appropriate response from monetary policy,” he said.