Scroogenomics
Professor Joel Waldfogel, author of Scroogenomics: Why you Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays, visited the RSA last week to talk about why we shouldn’t get caught up in expensive Christmas shopping or “an orgy of value destruction”, as he chose to describe it. His theory illustrates how our festive spending generates £50bn worth of economic waste each winter due to difficulties of actually satisfying gift recipients. Professor Waldfogel, who is also author of The Deadweight Loss of Christmas, argues that when we buy for ourselves, every dollar we spend produces at least a dollar in satisfaction, because we shop carefully and purchase items that are worth more than they cost. When it comes to giving, it’s often the opposite; choices are less informed, leaving recipients dissatisfied to varying degrees. His surveys have shown that we value gifts up to 20% less than items we buy for our selves.
