Taylor Swift’s colossal economic and cultural impact over the past year has proven something that her devout fans, known as “Swifties,” have been insisting for years: It’s Taylor Swift’s world, and we’re just living in it.
Throughout 2023, the singer-songwriter rapidly evolved from purely a successful pop star into a financial powerhouse shaping the economies of not only the U.S. but also those of several other countries across Europe, North and South America and Asia. Much of Swift’s surging influence this year, playfully dubbed “Taylornomics” or “Swiftonomics,” can be attributed to her ongoing Eras Tour, which kicked off in March and is set to run through December 2024. Eras Tour ticket sales have already topped $1 billion, making it the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, per live music trade publication Pollstar.
The massive tour has impacted everything from the local economies of the concert-hosting U.S. cities to the curricula of universities such as Harvard and Berklee College of Music, which now offer courses on Swift’s discography and literary influences and her songwriting techniques, respectively. Last week, Time magazine named Swift its “2023 Person of the Year,” the second time she has earned the honor (2017), making her the first woman to be named Person of the Year twice.