No, Taylor Swift and Beyonce Are Not Responsible for Inflation

“Inflation is a policy,” the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises explained.

CNN reported on Wednesday that we may have new culprits for inflation: Beyonce and Taylor Swift.

“Taylor Swift and Beyonce are impacting inflation and the GDP with their respective tours,” CNN tweeted with a segment discussing the macroeconomic impact of the tours of the two celebrities.

CNN isn’t alone. CNBC made a similar claim in a report on “tourflation” in July, which explored the surge in prices localities experience when Beyonce and Swift come to town.

“It’s not just that the tickets become more expensive,” Klaus Baader, global chief economist at Societe Generale, told CNBC. “It’s also that your beer or cider or your Coca-Cola or your hot dog at the venue has also gotten a lot more expensive.”

Baader is right that prices of goods and services at events go up a lot, which is why it’s not a surprise that massive tours such as Eras can rack up billions of dollars in gross domestic product. Fans spend lots of money at big events — whether it’s a Beyonce concert, a Yankees game, or a NASCAR race — where they buy expensive food, drinks, and souvenirs.

This economic impact goes beyond the stadium. It was recently observed that hotel prices surge when Swifties descend on cities to attend concerts, much to the annoyance of some locals and other travelers.

But is this really evidence of inflation?

READ the rest of this article at The Washington Examiner.