《经济学人》双语：泰勒·斯威夫特等超级巨星加剧了通货膨胀？

原文标题：
Can superstars like Beyoncé or Taylor Swift spur inflation?
Some economists think that tours by big acts drive up the consumer-price index
碧昂丝、泰勒·斯威夫特等超级巨星会加剧通货膨胀吗？
一些经济学家认为，大型巡演推高了消费者价格指数

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THE SWORN enemies of Europe’s central bankers include Vladimir Putin, covid-19 and, apparently, Beyoncé.

欧洲各国央行行长的宿敌有普京、新冠，显然还有碧昂丝。

All three have recently been blamed for hot inflation, but the American singer seems an unlikely macroeconomic force.

最近，这三者被认为是通货膨胀的罪魁祸首，然而这位美国歌手似乎不太可能是影响宏观经济的主要力量。

Hotel prices surged in Sweden when 46,000 fans flocked to the capital, Stockholm, for the pop star’s tour in May.

5 月份，4.6万名歌迷涌入瑞典首都斯德哥尔摩参加这位巨星的巡回演唱会，导致瑞典的酒店价格飙升。

The country’s consumer-price index hit 9.7% that month, higher than expected.

当月瑞典的消费者价格指数达到9.7%，高于预期。

“Beyoncé is responsible,” declared one local economist, as though he had caught her red-handed.

当地一位经济学家称："碧昂丝要负责"，仿佛他当着她的面说的一样。

Do superstar tours really spur inflation?

巨星巡演真的会加剧激通货膨胀吗？

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In most cases, probably not.
答案是，在大多数情况下不会加剧通货膨胀。

Inflation is calculated by comparing the prices of a basket of goods, rather than measuring sudden price rises in one sector, such as hotels.
通货膨胀是通过比较一篮子商品的价格来计算的，而不是衡量一个行业（如酒店业）价格的突然上涨。

Britain’s consumer-price index, for example, includes almost 750 goods and services. Concerts, theatre and cinema have a weight of less than 0.8% in the basket.
例如，英国的消费者价格指数包括近 750 种商品和服务。音乐会、剧院和电影院在篮子中的权重不到0.8%。

Countrywide inflation therefore rarely jumps as a result of a single event, unless it is on an enormous scale.
因此，全国范围内的通货膨胀很少会因单一事件而飙升，除非事件规模巨大。

Fans of Taylor Swift, another pop giant, are projected to spend around $600m on tickets for her current tour of America—but the country’s consumers spent almost $7trn over an equivalent period last year. Tours are big business, but not that big.
另一位巨星泰勒·斯威夫特的歌迷粉丝预计将花费约 6 亿美元购买她本次在美国巡演的门票--但去年同期美国歌迷的消费额接近7万亿美元。巡回演唱会确实是一笔大生意，但规模并没有那么大。

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Nor should price rises in entertainment contaminate other goods or services and make them more expensive.
娱乐价格上涨应该不会影响其他商品或服务的价格上涨。

Pricier hotels may even be offset by falling costs elsewhere.
酒店价格的上涨可能会被其他方面价格的下降所抵消。

To afford eye-wateringly expensive tickets (up to $899 for Ms Swift’s American tour), some fans will skimp on other treats, bringing down demand—and in theory prices—for those goods for a short time.
为了买得起贵得离谱的门票（霉霉在美国巡演的门票高达 899 美元），一些歌迷会削减其他消费的开支，这在短时间内降低了对这些商品的需求，理论上也降低了这些商品的价格。

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For small countries, things may be different. They could see a small, temporary bump in inflation as a result of a huge tour, reckons Tony Yates, an economist formerly at the Bank of England.
对于小国家来说，情况可能有所不同。前英格兰银行的经济学家托尼·耶茨认为，一次大型巡演过后，小国家会出现通货膨胀的短暂小高峰。

In Singapore, a city state of around 5.6m people, Ms Swift is putting on six shows—her only dates in South-East Asia.
新加坡是一个拥有约 560 万人口的城邦国家，霉霉将在此地举办6场演出——这是她在东南亚唯一的演出计划。

In theory around 6% of the population could attend. (The country’s education minister recently refused to grant children an ad hoc school holiday for the tour, in case it “fuelled further inflation”.)
理论上大约有 6% 的人口可以参加。（为了防止“进一步加剧通货膨胀”，新加坡教育部长最近拒绝给孩子们安排临时放假。）

In reality, thousands of Swifties are flying in from across the region, bringing a jolt of new demand and cash.
事实上，成千上万的霉霉歌迷正从整个地区飞来，带来了新的需求和现金的冲击。

That could throttle the supply of hotels, pushing up prices enough to cause a small bump in inflation.
这可能会抑制酒店的供应，推高价格，从而导致通胀小幅上升。

Locals may dip into savings, too, spending money intended for the future. That could also push up prices.
当地居民也可能动用储蓄，花掉本打算用于未来的资金。这也可能会推高物价。

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Even then, any effect would be short lived.
即便如此，任何影响都是暂时的。

When die-hard fans depart, prices will fall; hotels cannot charge Swiftian rates year-round.
死忠粉离开后，价格就会下跌；酒店不可能全年都收取霉霉演出时的费用。

The inflation rate may look correspondingly lower the following month.
在接下来的一个月里，通货膨胀率可能会相应降低。

This means tours are probably not something central bankers should bother responding to, says Mr Yates.
耶茨表示，这意味着巨星巡演可能不是央行应该担忧的事情。

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The price of seeing big acts perform has always been high.
观看大型演出的价格一直居高不下。

Jenny Lind, a soprano who toured America in the 1850s, flogged tickets at $6 a pop. Adjusting for inflation, that is around $230 today.
1850 年代，女高音珍妮·林德在美国巡演的的门票价格为每张 6 美元。考虑到通货膨胀因素，相当于今天230美元的票价。

The average cost to see Ms Swift is $254. But today acts visit fewer small venues and play to bigger crowds.
霉霉巡演平均票价为254美元。但是现在小型场馆演出越来越少，大型演出越来越多。

One reason is the competition to stage bigger and better shows.
原因之一就是看谁的演出规模更大，谁的演出质量更好。

Perhaps that is why Ms Swift has opted to perform her only South-East Asia dates in Singapore.
或许这就是霉霉选择在新加坡举行她唯一的东南亚场次的原因。

Carting sets around is riskier and more expensive than playing multiple times at the same venue, if the demand is there.
在有需求的情况下，与在同一地点多次演出相比，四处巡回演出风险更大、成本更高。

Coldplay and Harry Styles, two other big pop acts, are taking a similar approach.
“酷玩乐队”和“哈里·斯泰尔斯”这两大流行音乐团队也采取了类似的做法。

The economics of touring may be changing—but that need not worry most central bankers.
巡演对经济的影响可能正在发生变化，但这不必让大多数央行行长担心。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量632左右）
原文出自：2023年7月29日《The Economist》The Economist explains版块

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）

珍妮·林德（Jenny Lind）是19世纪著名的瑞典女高音歌唱家，被誉为“瑞典夜莺”。她于1820年出生在瑞典，从小就展现出了音乐天赋。在她的母亲的鼓励下，她开始接受音乐训练，并迅速展现出了出色的歌唱天赋。她的声音甜美、婉转动人，她的演唱风格充满了情感和表现力。她的音乐才华被广泛赞誉，很快就在瑞典和其他欧洲国家赢得了声誉。然而，林德真正的国际声誉是在19世纪50年代在美国巡回演出期间获得的。她的演唱会引起了轰动，吸引了大量观众。她的演唱会门票价格高昂，但依然受到了巨大的欢迎。人们纷纷涌向演唱会场地，希望亲眼目睹这位传奇女高音的风采。

【重点句子】（3个）
Inflation is calculated by comparing the prices of a basket of goods, rather than measuring sudden price rises in one sector, such as hotels.
通货膨胀是通过比较一篮子商品的价格来计算的，而不是衡量一个行业（如酒店业）价格的突然上涨。

Pricier hotels may even be offset by falling costs elsewhere.
酒店价格的上涨可能会被其他方面价格的下降所抵消。

Locals may dip into savings, too, spending money intended for the future. That could also push up prices.
当地居民也可能动用储蓄，花掉本打算用于未来的资金。这也可能会推高物价。