Christmas and Consumption
Christmas is a make-or-break time for many retailers, and the holiday season's importance to the American economy is so great that "Black Friday" sales at some retailers, particularly Wal-Mart, are reported as a macroeconomic indicator. The holiday season is indeed festive and inspiring even in spite of clichéd paeans against the "commercialism" of Christmas. But does the Christmastime "bacchanalia of peace on Earth and goodwill towards men" promote economic growth or not? FULL ARTICLE
Comments (6)
Technically, wouldn't it be a "saturnalia"? Most Americans seem to worship Bacchus more fervently on New Year's Eve.
Published: December 25, 2007 12:54 PM
I don't know where you hang out, but where I live, the term "Bacchanalia" wouldn't apply to either holiday.
Christmas is a time to contemplate the birth of Christ and for thinking about someone other than yourself. New Year's is an opportunity to get together with friends to reflect on the people you've known and the things that you've done as a way of preparing yourself for the year to come.
So, for those of you who partake of the holiday and were kind to me here at Mises, I wish you a Merry Christmas. For those of us who crossed swords, maybe we'll do better next year!
Published: December 25, 2007 2:50 PM
Re Scrooge's miserliness:
People tend to be more accepting of an employer who pays less but treats his employees well than an employer who pays a better wage, but whose personality makes for miserable working conditions.
Published: December 26, 2007 2:04 AM
Let's see ...
Joel Waldfogel once wrote an article suggesting that the institution of gift-giving may be economically inefficient.
Michael Levin makes the point that Ebenezer Scrooge's tight-fisted, miserly ways have some admirable qualities.
Steven Landsburg also discusses the economics of miserliness in an article he wrote for Slate several years ago.
Face it, we Ew-Jays just don't "get" Christmas. It's nothing personal; we just can't get the hang of it.
As a kid, I once told my neighbor that his dad really brought "Santa's" presents, and that "Santa" was just a bubbah-meinseh -- a fairy tale. I thought everyone knew it was just a big hoax. Boy was I wrong! Shortly afterwards, the kid's red-headed, befreckled, 6-foot tall sister came lumbering towards me declaring that she was going to "kick my ass" for ruining her little brother's holiday. Fortunately, I was able to outrun her and escape her righteous wrath.
That's when I learned that there's something about Christmas that goes beyond reason. It's really not worth arguing about economics, reason and consumption (of both the economic and alcoholic sorts) at this time of year. It just gets everyone all bent out of shape.
Published: December 26, 2007 5:47 AM
Why do most people decry the Scrooges at Christmas?
Retailers would prefer you spend money so that they profit from their existing investments and get rich. They obviously aren't impressed by someone saving to invest in their future competition.
Consumers (aka your family, friends, and the "needy") would prefer that you give them money any time rather than save to invest in the future. For them, now sounds like a good time to donate your resources for their benefit.
That pretty much covers the whole of society. Everyone wants you to spend now for their benefit. You might even want to spend now for your benefit. But the Scrooges who save for the future will be richer.
The rich get richer by investing and the poor get poorer by spending. Funny how buying things results in poverty over the long haul and not buying things results in prosperity over the long haul.
Published: December 26, 2007 4:59 PM
Scrooge's miserly ways should be celebrated, not scorned. Scrooge devotes almost all of his time and energy to the production of wealth, but he consumes very little, choosing instead to prepare his own meager meals, apparently refusing to hire domestic help, and in one of the story's most vivid illustrations of his cold-heartedness, steadfastly refusing to allow his employee Bob Cratchit to burn another lump of coal on Christmas Eve.
To me, that makes no sense at all. If one does not wish to use one's money to bring oneself comfort and enjoyment, or to bring others comfort and enjoyment, what is the purpose of making money in the first place?
Consumption is a normal and necessary function, and production was invented to allow for consumption. To use the most primitive example, one must eat to survive. Agriculture was invented by early man to provide food to eat. If not for that consumption, they would not have gone to the trouble to to breed and cultivate plants for food.
Every tradition surrounding Christmas seems to involve consumption--feasts, traveling, gift giving, decorations--and there is nothing wrong with that! It gives people the opportunity to indulge, to take a break from one's responsibilities, to both give and receive, and to share quality time with friends and family, all of which is, in my opinion, beneficial for one's psychological wellbeing.
Published: December 27, 2007 10:19 PM