Expert warns traditional holiday shopping leads to economic waste

Based on years of research, University of Minnesota economist Joel Waldfogel has concluded Americans will vaporize $14 billion worth of value this holiday season by purchasing gifts that have less value to their recipient than they cost. Increasing awareness of this problem has propelled spending on gift cards, which will reach $80 billion this year. While purchasing a gift card for Aunt Sally may be better than buying her perfume, gift cards are not without their own pitfalls as 10 percent of card balances will never be redeemed. Waldfogel has some simple advice to reduce the $8 billion annually that goes used and to help consumers get the most from their cards.

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[grunder20]

its in the spur of the holidays. you cant just bail it out.

[bdeaner]

"Here are the features of the gift...: it is a voluntary transfer; an expectation of reciprocity; reciprocity is notionally open to discretion as to value and time; and is motivated by a desire for regard, over and above any gains from trade; regard is communicated by gift; personalized gift authenticates regard; gift is unpriced, often unpriceable; and gift establishes repetitive, self-enforcing bond, which facilitates trade." -- Avner Offer

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[bdeaner]

The economics of the gift are not reducible to their monetary value. A true gift economy is not an exchange of commodities, but well, an exchange of gifts, which by definition have a quality of gratuitousness. The excess of value lost in the exchange is exactly what would be expected within a gift economy type of exchange -- an expenditure of excess with no expectation of return. Look up "gift economy" and read more...