Defending the Humanistic Virtue of Holiday Commercialism
A prominent study of holiday gift giving estimates the correlative amount of wasted economic value (“deadweight loss”) to be roughly $25 billion worldwide. This result is predictable (in direction, although not in actual magnitude) from economic theory and casual experience. Regrettably, the study neither substantiates its broad condemnation of holiday gift giving, nor does it support any of the normative generalizations that might be drawn from it; for example, the desirability of modifying the Christmas holiday’s commercial aspect, or of augmenting its religious and spiritual dimensions. This essay argues instead that holiday gift giving is privately and socially beneficial on balance despite its economic costs.