Here’s a brand new reason to care about the welfare of Britney Spears:  She’s good for the economy.  Really good.  Like… $120 Million-a-year good. 

Yeah, you read that right.  According to this article, it is estimated that Britney Spears adds between $110-$120 Million to the U.S. economy per year….and that’s when she’s not out on a concert tour. 

Clearly Britney is popular–she’s the most-searched phrase on the Internet for 2007 (and 5 of the 6 previous years as well).  And everyone groans when I mention that… as though they feel someone or something else deserves our national attention.  And I’m sure there’s some truth in that.  But you can’t say she’s not pulling her weight in terms of the economy. 

Here’s a longer article that goes into detail on why she’s worth so much to us in terms of dollars.  See, Britney’s mere existence creates jobs and puts food on the tables of many. 

There are the papparazi photographers who take her picture (and follow her around all day).  Then you consider the magazines that print those photos, and the subscriptions and sales dollars they bring in.  Don’t forget that she’s also a singer, whose albums have made a ton of money for her label, her PR people, and her managers.  She’s been in movies and music videos, has her own perfume, and even starred in her own reality show.  When you break it all down, you can easily see how they arrived at the $120 Million figure.  And if she were on a concert tour, then that number would climb even further, with tour employees, merchandise sales, venue revenue, and so on. 

But the lion’s share of the money she adds to the economy is related to the magazine/tabloid industry.  From the article:

Spears is just one of many stars driving the growing multibillion dollar celebrity news industry. But the Spears story in particular, with a new twist nearly every week, has become a very profitable sub-sector unto itself.

“Britney is the most bankable celebrity out there right now, and she has been for the past year,” said Francois Navarre, founder of the paparazzi agency X17.

And the people who buy those magazines and read them online are the same people who search for her enough online each year to make her the most-searched phrase.   As depressing as it may be, there’s no denying the demand for Britney-related information.

So now I come to the issue of having a vested interest in her well-being.  If anything bad were to happen to her that would cause her popularity to wane…it would be bad for the economy.  And the economy can’t take too many more hits right now, if you know what I mean. 

So maybe instead of groaning when we see her on the cover of another magazine or wishing she would go away…perhaps we should count our blessings.  She may be a train wreck… but she’s a profitable one, at least as far as the U.S. economy is concerned.  I don’t know how much you add to the national bottom line, but I bet it’s not as much as Britney.