Your Spotify History Could Help Predict What's Going On With The Economy

The Bank of England's chief economist, Andy Haldane, has urged his colleagues to examine the musical mood of the nation when contemplating changes to the Bank's interest rate. How could an increase in Taylor Swift downloads or a decline in the popularity of rock and roll be relevant for managing the economy? It all comes down to measuring economic sentiment. This is a way of gauging how people feel about the economy, which behavioural economists use to make predictions about how it will respond to different policies. For example, if people are generally pessimistic about the economy then raising interest rates might encourage them to stop borrowing and spending by so much that it harms the economy.