Rock Stars Respond to Incentives Like the Rest of Us

ABBA, looking fabulous

The Guardian reports that Abba’s wild outfits were influenced by Swedish tax laws:

According to Abba: The Official Photo Book, published to mark 40 years since they won Eurovision with Waterloo, the band’s style was influenced in part by laws that allowed the cost of outfits to be deducted against tax – so long as the costumes were so outrageous they could not possibly be worn on the street.

I think this qualifies as a Pigovian tax.