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Taylor Swift’s influence extends beyond hit singles and sold-out stadiums—it’s also arrived in the classroom at American University. Swiftonomics: The Economics of Taylor Swift is a one-credit economics class that is attracting students eager to analyze the financial ripples of the pop phenomenon turned economic powerhouse.  

Taught by Economics Professor and Department Chair (and a Swiftie herself) Kara Reynolds, the course uses Taylor’s $1 billion+ Eras Tour as a lesson in modern-day economics. We recently caught up with Reynolds to hear about the class, the music, and the lessons learned from the enormous economic and social impact of Taylor Swift.

PH: What has the student response been to the class? Do you have any economics converts after they've had the opportunity to study the field through the lens of their favorite artist?

KR: I have heard only positive things from students—it was an extremely fun class to teach, and I think a fun class to take. The students were engaged in the material and were extremely active in classroom discussions. The final assignment required students to develop a business proposal to host the Eras tour in a town of their choosing. They did an amazing job explaining both the potential benefits to the community, as well as the possible costs. I don’t think that I necessarily created any new economics majors in the class (although there might be one or two) but I do think that students have a greater appreciation and understanding of the economic forces at work in society, and they can use this knowledge to make better decisions as consumers, voters, and leaders in their field. You would be amazed at how many important economic issues can be discussed through the lens of the music industry and Taylor Swift—we discussed inequality, gender discrimination, market power, climate change, economic growth, intellectual property rights, and contract law, to name just a few.

PH: You use music and icebreaker questions to start each class. How does that set the tone for the rest of the session?

KR: I’ve always wanted to design an economics course around music and have been working on my economics playlist for years. Because economics is essentially about how society should allocate scarce resources, I imagine that the walk on song for every economics class is the Rolling Stones “You can’t always get what you want.” Teaching Swiftonomics allowed me to lean into my love of music, particularly Swift. Each week was themed after a particular Era—the week we discussed the problems with monopolies (specifically Ticketmaster) was themed after the Swift song “I Knew You Were Trouble.” I feel like music and polling questions—we often would start with something completely unrelated to class like— “What Would Be Your Walk- On Song”— relaxes students and creates a cheerful tone, leading to better conversations later on where everyone feels comfortable participating. I also learned a lot from these questions—like how college students like to consume music. Not surprisingly, most have Spotify accounts, but there are diehard vinyl fans out there as well.

PH: What have you learned about Taylor Swift through this experience?

KR: I’ve always casually enjoyed Taylor Swift as a musician, but teaching this class had given me a new respect for Taylor Swift as a businesswoman. Swift has been able to use her market power to force changes in the way musicians are compensated for their work. The choices she has made—how she chose to distribute her concert film and manage the Eras tour for example—have been extremely canny. She either has an amazing grasp of how the entertainment industry works or an outstanding sense of who to hire to manage her business affairs—I suspect it’s a combination of both. It’s rare to see an artistic genius manage their business affairs so well.

PH: What are some of the challenges in designing a class around a pop culture figure? How do you keep the balance between entertainment and rigorous academic analysis?

KR: What made this class challenging to teach is that I really wanted to engage students across the spectrum of previous knowledge about the economy. The class included seniors who were wrapping up their economics degree with freshman who had taken a single principles-level economics course. My task was to explain the economics of the music industry, and Swift in particular, in an intuitive way that allowed students with more background in economics to take the analysis to the next level. The entertainment part was easy—the students have so much knowledge about Swift’s career, the tour, and their personal experiences buying concert tickets and streaming music that they were able to fill in these details in class discussions.

PH: I know that students are excited for the Swift class in the spring, but what's next? Are you running the student competition again?

KR: We are running Swiftonomics (ECON-396-001) this Spring on Wednesdays from 11:20 to 2:10—students should register now! And we will be putting out a call for submissions for the Department of Economics Student Developed Course Competition in January. I’ve already heard some suggestions—and if students have ideas, they could reach out to faculty now to get feedback.

About Professor Kara Reynolds

Professor Reynolds joined the department in 2003 after completing her PhD at the University of Virginia. Her research interests include the political economy of trade protection, particularly antidumping protection, and the impact of trade liberalization on workers and firms. Courses taught by Prof. Reynolds include Microeconomics (ECON-200, ECON-300, ECON-600, ECON-803), International Economics: Trade (ECON-371, ECON-671), and Communicating Economics (ECON-440, ECON-640).