Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays »

Joel Waldfogel is the Ehrenkranz Professor and Chair of Business and Public Policy at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of "The Tyranny of the Market" and has been a columnist for Slate.

"Joel Waldfogel is one of the smartest and funniest economists on the planet. I think of him every time I start to unwrap a present. Buy Scroogenomics for your friends and family. It makes the perfect Christmas gift."--Ian Ayres, author of Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart

"Scroogenomics is a very well-written and entertaining read."--Diane Coyle, author of The Soulful Science: What Economists Really Do and Why It Matters

Publishers Weekly

Waldfogel (The Tyranny of the Market) delivers a badly needed poke in the eye at holiday-time consumer madness, positing that not only is compulsory gift giving stressful and expensive, but it's economically unsound. Purchases are usually a zero-sum game—a $50 sweater is bought only when it is worth $50 or more to the consumer. But most gifts are relatively worthless to the less-than-enthused recipient, thus severing the link between the buying decision and the item's value. Addressing the $66 billion in retail sales during the 2007 Christmas season, the author's bewilderment is evident when he asks—would anyone buy this stuff for himself or herself? does anybody want it?—and answers his own question with a quote suggesting that gift giving may be too firmly entrenched to budge: “There are worlds of money wasted, at this time of year, in getting things that nobody wants, and nobody cares for after they are got.” That's Harriet Beecher Stowe back in 1850. This lively, spot-on book may be the one gift that still makes sense to buy come Black Friday. (Nov.)

Preface ix CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1
CHAPTER TWO: Spending and Satisfaction 6
CHAPTER THREE: U.S. Holiday Spending 23
CHAPTER FOUR: How Much Waste Occurs at Christmas? 29
CHAPTER FIVE: Why We Do It: Are Gift Recipients Crackheads, or What? 41
CHAPTER SIX: Giving and Waste around the World 57
CHAPTER SEVEN: A Century of American Yuletide Spending 71
CHAPTER EIGHT: Have Yourself a Borrowed Little Christmas 78
CHAPTER NINE: Is Christmas Like Spam, Underwear, or Caviar? 89
CHAPTER TEN: Christmas and Commercialism: Are Santa and Jesus on the Same Team? If So, Who's Team Captain? 99
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Stop Carping; It's All for the Best 104
CHAPTER TWELVE: Making Giving More Effi cient with Cash and Gift Cards 113
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Giving and Redistribution 120
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Solutions --Making Gift Giving a Force for Good 134
Notes 147
Index 171