Almost-billionaire Taylor Swift could show Elon Musk how to do rich

She has challenged misogyny, championed artists’ rights and helped shift the paradigm of intellectual property ownership. She has also helped to reinvent the traditional album release model and radically pushed the boundaries of fan engagement.

Going forward, Swift has two crucial opportunities to seize: first, she should openly and proudly welcome US President Joe Biden’s proposed tax on the ultra-rich. “It’s time billionaires paid at least a 25 per cent minimum tax,” Biden recently tweeted, echoing a plan he introduced last March.

The president’s proposal, which was introduced in Congress last year as the “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax Act”, honours the sensibilities and economic realities of Swift’s young fan base.

As a paragon of marketing and commercialism, Swift should bear in mind that more than half of Gen Z and Millennials say they have a negative view of capitalism. And many in Swift’s age group are struggling with unprecedented levels of student loan and credit card debt, even as many spend thousands on her concert tickets and merchandise.

The overall effective tax rate of the ultra-wealthy in the US has plummeted in recent decades. In 1970, it was 75 per cent, in 2004, 35 per cent, and today, it is 8.2 per cent.

In that context, a 25 per cent tax rate is a paltry demand, and welcoming Biden’s minimum tax rate would be on brand with Swift’s love of tradition and her progressive, patriotic “Miss Americana” profile.

Climate impact

A somewhat larger challenge for Swift would be to acknowledge and begin to redress her profligate climate impact.

It has been widely covered that her carbon footprint via her private jet last year alone was nearly 2000 times the global average and about 650 times per-capita emissions in the US. In response, her team has offered a bafflingly evasive statement saying she lent her jet out to friends.

The Eras Tour has exponentially increased this impact – not just through the singer’s personal travel and that of her crew, but by the fans travelling to her events across 146 shows on five continents and indulging in a rash of conspicuous consumption.

After the tour ends and the glitter is swept from the floor, this decadence could well backfire. The superstar knows first-hand the pain of being cancelled and has the power to avoid it.

She can start by disclosing a transparent analysis of the full carbon impact of her extended Eras tour and a clear inventory of her efforts to reduce it. (In August, a Swift spokesperson told Business Insider that she bought offsets for personal jet travel for the tour, but it was not independently verified, and her concert site mentions no climate strategy).

Swift should commit to carbon-neutral touring, which goes well beyond personal air travel to include efficient stadium lighting, sustainable food vendors, and limits on single-use plastics. Doing this would be far less painful than enduring public criticism for doing nothing.

This would be a first step towards the greater project of setting new standards for 21st-century American billionaires, because it demonstrates what’s possible when extraordinary personal success can benefit not just the individual but the multitudes.

After all, Swift’s wealth has been built by multitudes of young consumers. Investing in their future is not just the morally defensible path forward but an economically strategic one that would enable her to shake off the burdens of her profligacy.

Amanda Little is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering agriculture and climate. She is a professor at Vanderbilt University and author of The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World.

Washington Post