Last week, I wrote a post about the economics of gift giving: “Gift Giving: The Economic Guide“. In there, you’ll find a summary of Joel Waldfogel’s academic paper: “The Deadweight Loss of Christmas“. The basic summary:
- Christmas gift-giving represents a massive loss of value for society;
- Firstly, most people receive gifts that are worth less to them than the gift-giver paid (ie. they would rather have taken the money and/or bought something else instead); and
- Secondly, we waste a lot of time in the search for gifts.
Personally, I think that’s a bit grinch-like. But here’s an infographic that sums some of that up:
Either way, happy shopping to you this festive season.
Rolling Alpha posts opinions on finance, economics, and sometimes things that are only loosely related. Follow me on Twitter @RollingAlpha, or like the Rolling Alpha page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rollingalpha.
