Humanities & Science
Humanities: Christmas for Curmudgeons? Why gift-giving is wasteful (if you’re an economist)
Course details
Course code
Q00019895Course date
Start: 07/12/24
End: 07/12/24
Number of classes
1 sessionsTutor
Jonathan WarnerFee range
Free to £7.40
How you'll learn
Venue
OnlineLevel of study
Availability
You can enrol online for this course
Course overview
Christmas is a time for giving: but is it really a good idea? Wouldn’t it be better if you just bought something for yourself that would bring you joy, and didn’t have to worry about getting presents for other people, which they might just regift anyway? Why do economists act like Grinches? How can we save Christmas from the Bah!Humbug! Brigade?
Course description
Economists tend to see everything as a set of agreements and transactions which both parties think will make them better off. So Christmas gift-giving is no exception. If the gift is something you wanted, why hadn’t you already bought it yourself? So it follows that most gifts are unwanted, or worth less to the recipient than the amount the giver paid for them. It would be better to gift cash instead, and let the recipient choose something they really wanted. (They do this in Hong Kong at Chinese New Year). So why do we persist in giving gifts? What makes a gift worth giving – and worth receiving? Can we rescue Christmas from the curmudgeonly economists?
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