1 00:00:15,370 --> 00:00:26,690 Speaker 1: Pushkin. It was Friday the thirteenth, and some people would 2 00:00:26,730 --> 00:00:32,330 Speaker 1: have expected bad luck. Susie Hall didn't. She knew, of course, 3 00:00:32,370 --> 00:00:36,730 Speaker 1: that life could deal out some hard knocks. A decade before, 4 00:00:37,330 --> 00:00:40,170 Speaker 1: when she was twenty eight, she was attacked in the 5 00:00:40,290 --> 00:00:43,650 Speaker 1: street in her home city of Edinburgh by three men 6 00:00:44,170 --> 00:00:47,850 Speaker 1: who took her purse, her car, and her peace of mind. 7 00:00:48,850 --> 00:00:52,010 Speaker 1: Now in her late thirties, she was still being treated 8 00:00:52,050 --> 00:00:55,290 Speaker 1: for depression and anxiety, trying to keep it all together 9 00:00:55,370 --> 00:00:59,810 Speaker 1: as the single mother of two young children. But Susie 10 00:00:59,970 --> 00:01:02,970 Speaker 1: was determined to make the most of things. She was 11 00:01:03,010 --> 00:01:06,450 Speaker 1: studying law. She knew that could be a pathway to 12 00:01:06,490 --> 00:01:10,930 Speaker 1: a steady, well paid job, and she had a side hustle. 13 00:01:11,650 --> 00:01:14,490 Speaker 1: She worked as a sales agent for a company called 14 00:01:14,810 --> 00:01:18,970 Speaker 1: fair Pack. It was a Christmas savings club. People would 15 00:01:18,970 --> 00:01:21,970 Speaker 1: save a little money each week with fair Pack prudently 16 00:01:22,050 --> 00:01:25,730 Speaker 1: planning for the expenses of the holiday season, and then 17 00:01:26,330 --> 00:01:30,130 Speaker 1: a few weeks before Christmas, a year of thrift would 18 00:01:30,210 --> 00:01:34,930 Speaker 1: be rewarded. Fair Pack would send out vouchers, Christmas hampers 19 00:01:34,930 --> 00:01:38,930 Speaker 1: and gifts. Fair Packs customers didn't have to worry about 20 00:01:38,970 --> 00:01:42,690 Speaker 1: how they'd pay for seasonal gifts and treats. They didn't 21 00:01:42,730 --> 00:01:46,450 Speaker 1: stretch themselves with credit cards or payday loans. It was 22 00:01:46,490 --> 00:01:51,370 Speaker 1: all taken care of. Fair Pack was a word of mouth. 23 00:01:51,410 --> 00:01:55,850 Speaker 1: Business agents such as Susie Hall would save up themselves, 24 00:01:56,370 --> 00:01:59,530 Speaker 1: but they'd also go around collecting money from colleagues, friends 25 00:01:59,530 --> 00:02:05,210 Speaker 1: and family. Everyone was saving together. That wasn't easy because 26 00:02:05,250 --> 00:02:08,570 Speaker 1: most of fair Pack's customers had precious little money to spare. 27 00:02:09,530 --> 00:02:14,370 Speaker 1: But saving alongside other people provided some friendly peer pressure. 28 00:02:15,210 --> 00:02:18,370 Speaker 1: It was encouragement to make the sacrifices necessary to set 29 00:02:18,410 --> 00:02:24,810 Speaker 1: that cash aside. So no. Susie Hall wasn't expecting any 30 00:02:24,850 --> 00:02:29,610 Speaker 1: bad lak on Friday, October thirteenth, two thousand and six, 31 00:02:31,090 --> 00:02:38,010 Speaker 1: but fair Pack had folded, entering bankruptcy proceedings. My heart 32 00:02:38,330 --> 00:02:43,570 Speaker 1: just sank completely, she said. The message on the website 33 00:02:43,570 --> 00:02:46,450 Speaker 1: said that no hampers, no vouchers, no goods would be 34 00:02:46,490 --> 00:02:49,690 Speaker 1: sent out. I know quite a bit about company law 35 00:02:49,730 --> 00:02:53,850 Speaker 1: and insolvency law. I knew right away it was really bad. 36 00:02:54,970 --> 00:02:58,410 Speaker 1: I wasn't sure how bad I was to find out 37 00:02:58,410 --> 00:03:03,690 Speaker 1: over the next few days. I'm Tim Harford, and you're 38 00:03:03,730 --> 00:03:34,130 Speaker 1: listening to cautionary tales. Christmas is a time for laughter 39 00:03:34,330 --> 00:03:38,930 Speaker 1: and friendship, for making merry and giving generously, for gathering 40 00:03:38,970 --> 00:03:42,570 Speaker 1: close with family, and for that little touch of Christmas magic. 41 00:03:43,490 --> 00:03:46,530 Speaker 1: I love Christmas as much as anyone, so it feels 42 00:03:46,730 --> 00:03:52,850 Speaker 1: rather harsh to point out that Christmas is expensive. Nobody 43 00:03:52,890 --> 00:03:57,210 Speaker 1: really knows how expensive. But the economist Joel Wolfogel has 44 00:03:57,250 --> 00:04:01,450 Speaker 1: spent years studying the economics of Christmas, and I trust 45 00:04:01,490 --> 00:04:04,890 Speaker 1: his estimates. He looks at how much people spend in 46 00:04:04,930 --> 00:04:08,530 Speaker 1: shops and restaurants in typical months and compares that spending 47 00:04:08,810 --> 00:04:12,330 Speaker 1: to low out in December. That gives a pretty good 48 00:04:12,410 --> 00:04:15,650 Speaker 1: estimate of how much extra people are spending because it's 49 00:04:15,690 --> 00:04:19,610 Speaker 1: the holiday season. When his book about the Economics of 50 00:04:19,690 --> 00:04:24,130 Speaker 1: Christmas was published over a decade ago, Professor Waldfogel reckoned 51 00:04:24,170 --> 00:04:29,530 Speaker 1: that Americans spent about sixty six billion dollars extra in 52 00:04:29,570 --> 00:04:32,770 Speaker 1: the run up to Christmas. The figure today would be 53 00:04:32,810 --> 00:04:37,570 Speaker 1: around a hundred billion dollars, a sum so vast. It's 54 00:04:37,770 --> 00:04:43,930 Speaker 1: literally a meme from Austin powers one hundred billion dollars. 55 00:04:46,450 --> 00:04:51,130 Speaker 1: And this isn't just the American consumer gone wild. Around 56 00:04:51,170 --> 00:04:55,530 Speaker 1: the world, countries which celebrate Christmas see large booms in 57 00:04:55,650 --> 00:05:00,010 Speaker 1: spending in December, including the UK, my home country and 58 00:05:00,130 --> 00:05:04,490 Speaker 1: also home to fair Pack and its unlucky customers. The 59 00:05:04,610 --> 00:05:08,050 Speaker 1: United States is just one of many such countries. And 60 00:05:08,450 --> 00:05:13,290 Speaker 1: although not everyone, but not everywhere, celebrates Christmas, depending on 61 00:05:13,330 --> 00:05:16,170 Speaker 1: your beliefs and on where you live, he might instead 62 00:05:16,250 --> 00:05:20,850 Speaker 1: expect to give and receive gifts for Devali, d Hanakah, 63 00:05:21,450 --> 00:05:25,850 Speaker 1: or even Saint Basil's Day. Then there are birthdays, baby showers, 64 00:05:25,850 --> 00:05:28,730 Speaker 1: and weddings. There are many occasions on which we might 65 00:05:28,810 --> 00:05:32,010 Speaker 1: want to give gifts, or where even if we don't 66 00:05:32,050 --> 00:05:34,770 Speaker 1: want to give gifts, we kind of have to anyway. 67 00:05:36,290 --> 00:05:40,330 Speaker 1: And if the economist Joel Waldfogel is right, we're all 68 00:05:40,410 --> 00:05:45,690 Speaker 1: trapped by these gift giving traditions. Consider the central problem 69 00:05:45,810 --> 00:05:51,450 Speaker 1: of Christmas, choosing the right gift. We all appreciate receiving gifts, 70 00:05:51,930 --> 00:05:55,650 Speaker 1: even bad ones. It's nice to know someone cares. But 71 00:05:55,970 --> 00:06:00,250 Speaker 1: says Waldfogel, let's set aside the gratitude and the pleasure 72 00:06:00,290 --> 00:06:02,650 Speaker 1: of giving and all the other sentiments for a moment. 73 00:06:03,170 --> 00:06:08,090 Speaker 1: Let's ask whether we actually give good gifts. I think 74 00:06:08,130 --> 00:06:10,850 Speaker 1: we carry around in our heads a kind of fantasy 75 00:06:10,930 --> 00:06:14,330 Speaker 1: version of what gift giving can be. The dream gift 76 00:06:14,450 --> 00:06:18,530 Speaker 1: will surprise and delight and be so perfectly chosen that 77 00:06:18,570 --> 00:06:22,770 Speaker 1: it's vastly better than the recipient could have imagined. It 78 00:06:22,890 --> 00:06:27,410 Speaker 1: might even change their lives. I perceived such gifts myself. 79 00:06:28,170 --> 00:06:35,210 Speaker 1: Perhaps you have two. Thinking back to Christmas nineteen eighty four, 80 00:06:35,690 --> 00:06:39,970 Speaker 1: I remember opening the wrapping paper hurriedly with nervous hands, 81 00:06:39,970 --> 00:06:43,330 Speaker 1: excited to get the gift inside. Little did I know 82 00:06:43,770 --> 00:06:48,210 Speaker 1: that disaster was about to enter my previously happy childhood. 83 00:06:48,730 --> 00:06:51,330 Speaker 1: Don't worry, it wasn't a disaster for me. It was 84 00:06:51,370 --> 00:06:55,690 Speaker 1: a catalog of disasters for everyone else. The gift was 85 00:06:55,730 --> 00:07:00,610 Speaker 1: a book titled the World's Greatest Mistakes. Some of the 86 00:07:00,650 --> 00:07:04,690 Speaker 1: stories were absurd, the bride who accidentally married the best man. 87 00:07:05,330 --> 00:07:08,850 Speaker 1: Some of them were famous tragedies like the Titanic swallowed 88 00:07:08,930 --> 00:07:12,530 Speaker 1: up by the ICC. All of them fascinated me, and 89 00:07:12,610 --> 00:07:17,170 Speaker 1: I realized learning from other people's mistakes is a lot 90 00:07:17,290 --> 00:07:25,330 Speaker 1: less painful than learning from your own. Goodness me, without 91 00:07:25,450 --> 00:07:31,650 Speaker 1: that Christmas gift, cautionary tales might not exist. But let's 92 00:07:31,690 --> 00:07:36,610 Speaker 1: be realistic, the gifts we usually buy are much less successful. 93 00:07:37,370 --> 00:07:40,490 Speaker 1: For example, let's say that you give me a tin 94 00:07:40,610 --> 00:07:44,370 Speaker 1: of really lovely speciality tea for Christmas, and it costs 95 00:07:44,370 --> 00:07:48,410 Speaker 1: you twenty dollars. I'd really appreciate the gift. It's so 96 00:07:48,490 --> 00:07:50,730 Speaker 1: kind of you to think of me. You've noticed that 97 00:07:50,770 --> 00:07:54,090 Speaker 1: I appreciate the finer things in life, so your gift 98 00:07:54,210 --> 00:07:59,210 Speaker 1: really is very thoughtful. But unfortunately I don't like tea 99 00:07:59,250 --> 00:08:03,210 Speaker 1: at all. I can't stand the stuff. So while the 100 00:08:03,410 --> 00:08:07,610 Speaker 1: sentimental value of the gesture is high, the actual value 101 00:08:07,610 --> 00:08:12,050 Speaker 1: of the gift to me zero, maybe negative, because now 102 00:08:12,050 --> 00:08:14,050 Speaker 1: I have the hassle of figuring out how to get 103 00:08:14,130 --> 00:08:19,570 Speaker 1: rid of this tea. So while we fondly dream of 104 00:08:19,690 --> 00:08:23,530 Speaker 1: transcendently brilliant gifts, it's a lot more common to receive 105 00:08:23,570 --> 00:08:26,210 Speaker 1: a gift like that. A book you never read, a 106 00:08:26,290 --> 00:08:30,650 Speaker 1: sweater you never wear, tea you never drink. And most 107 00:08:30,690 --> 00:08:34,490 Speaker 1: common of all is the gift you know I like coffee, 108 00:08:34,570 --> 00:08:37,610 Speaker 1: Say you get me some ground coffee. It's not my favorite, 109 00:08:37,850 --> 00:08:40,330 Speaker 1: and I prefer to ground my own. But it's fine. 110 00:08:40,490 --> 00:08:42,650 Speaker 1: I'll use it, and I'm grateful to have a friend 111 00:08:42,650 --> 00:08:45,370 Speaker 1: who took the trouble. But you spent twenty dollars on 112 00:08:45,410 --> 00:08:48,090 Speaker 1: the coffee, and if I'd bought it for myself, I 113 00:08:48,130 --> 00:08:52,890 Speaker 1: wouldn't have paid more than say, sixteen dollars. The point, 114 00:08:53,210 --> 00:08:57,730 Speaker 1: says Waldfogel, is that if you spend twenty dollars on yourself, 115 00:08:57,730 --> 00:09:00,050 Speaker 1: you're only going to spend it on something worth at 116 00:09:00,130 --> 00:09:04,090 Speaker 1: least twenty dollars to you, probably more. But if you 117 00:09:04,130 --> 00:09:07,250 Speaker 1: spend twenty dollars on someone else, there's no guarantee that 118 00:09:07,290 --> 00:09:10,050 Speaker 1: what you buy will be worth twenty dollars to them. 119 00:09:10,170 --> 00:09:12,450 Speaker 1: You might do the equivalent of buying me a tin 120 00:09:12,530 --> 00:09:18,850 Speaker 1: of tea. Joel Waldfogel didn't want to settle for hypothetical examples. 121 00:09:19,250 --> 00:09:23,770 Speaker 1: He wanted data, so in the spring of nineteen ninety three, 122 00:09:23,850 --> 00:09:26,850 Speaker 1: he gave a short survey to his econ one fifty 123 00:09:26,890 --> 00:09:30,810 Speaker 1: students at Yale. They were willing participants. He recalls, better 124 00:09:30,850 --> 00:09:33,730 Speaker 1: to spend ten minutes filling out a questionnaire than ten 125 00:09:33,810 --> 00:09:37,170 Speaker 1: more minutes listening to Professor Waldfogel droning on about the 126 00:09:37,210 --> 00:09:43,690 Speaker 1: demand curve. What Waldfogel wanted to know was simple, what 127 00:09:43,930 --> 00:09:47,170 Speaker 1: gifts had these young people received over the holiday season, 128 00:09:48,010 --> 00:09:51,090 Speaker 1: for example, a CD for a band they didn't like, 129 00:09:51,730 --> 00:09:55,850 Speaker 1: or perhaps a CD they already had, a blouse, wrong size, 130 00:09:55,890 --> 00:09:59,890 Speaker 1: wrong color, a garden known how much had the givers 131 00:10:00,130 --> 00:10:03,610 Speaker 1: paid for the gifts and leaving aside those questions of 132 00:10:03,690 --> 00:10:08,410 Speaker 1: gratitude and sentimental value, how much did the recipients value 133 00:10:08,530 --> 00:10:11,930 Speaker 1: the gifts? And what he found was but it was 134 00:10:12,010 --> 00:10:14,850 Speaker 1: kind of obvious and kind of sacrilegious all at the 135 00:10:14,890 --> 00:10:19,170 Speaker 1: same time. A gift that costs twenty dollars is worth 136 00:10:19,290 --> 00:10:23,850 Speaker 1: only about seventeen dollars to the recipient on average. The 137 00:10:23,930 --> 00:10:28,050 Speaker 1: other three dollars is just wasted. Friends and boyfriends and 138 00:10:28,130 --> 00:10:32,210 Speaker 1: girlfriends do a bit better than this. Grandparents and distant 139 00:10:32,290 --> 00:10:38,850 Speaker 1: elderly relatives do much worse. Economists have a technical term 140 00:10:38,890 --> 00:10:42,250 Speaker 1: for this kind of waste. It's called a deadweight loss. 141 00:10:43,050 --> 00:10:47,530 Speaker 1: It happens when markets don't work properly. Usually, a deadweight 142 00:10:47,570 --> 00:10:50,610 Speaker 1: loss happens because a big company is abusing its dominant 143 00:10:50,610 --> 00:10:53,690 Speaker 1: market position, or because a government has intervened in the 144 00:10:53,730 --> 00:10:59,170 Speaker 1: market in a clumsy way. These are issues economists take seriously. 145 00:11:00,170 --> 00:11:03,650 Speaker 1: But when Waldfogel published his results in an academic journal 146 00:11:04,090 --> 00:11:08,210 Speaker 1: with a suitably festive title, The Deadweight Loss of Christmas, 147 00:11:08,690 --> 00:11:11,490 Speaker 1: it all seemed like a bit of a joke. Most 148 00:11:11,490 --> 00:11:15,330 Speaker 1: people cast wald Vogel in the role of Scrooge, someone 149 00:11:15,370 --> 00:11:20,290 Speaker 1: who just doesn't understand the true spirit of Christmas. He 150 00:11:20,490 --> 00:11:23,450 Speaker 1: leaned into the hate when he published his book Scrooge 151 00:11:23,410 --> 00:11:27,490 Speaker 1: Genomics with a revised estimate that the deadweight loss of 152 00:11:27,570 --> 00:11:33,010 Speaker 1: Christmas was actually closer to twenty percent. That's four dollars 153 00:11:33,010 --> 00:11:36,810 Speaker 1: of waste, four dollars of deadweight loss for every twenty 154 00:11:36,850 --> 00:11:41,250 Speaker 1: dollars of gift giving. In other words, the average Christmas 155 00:11:41,250 --> 00:11:44,730 Speaker 1: gift is like my so so bag of coffee. I 156 00:11:44,770 --> 00:11:47,850 Speaker 1: don't mind getting it, I won't throw it out. It's 157 00:11:47,930 --> 00:11:57,370 Speaker 1: just vaguely disappointing. Every year Christmas brings the same traditions, 158 00:11:58,170 --> 00:12:02,090 Speaker 1: chestnuts roasting on an open fire, jack frost nipping at 159 00:12:02,130 --> 00:12:05,930 Speaker 1: your nose at a seasonal flurry of media interest in 160 00:12:06,010 --> 00:12:09,730 Speaker 1: Joel Waldfogel's research, I often write about it in my 161 00:12:09,850 --> 00:12:13,130 Speaker 1: newspaper column at the Financial Times, but I always get 162 00:12:13,170 --> 00:12:17,690 Speaker 1: the same response. Most people don't take me seriously. They 163 00:12:17,770 --> 00:12:22,210 Speaker 1: laugh at economists warning of bad Christmas gifts. Christmas is magical, 164 00:12:22,290 --> 00:12:26,610 Speaker 1: after all. It's that magic that motivates people like Susie 165 00:12:26,610 --> 00:12:29,450 Speaker 1: Hall and her friends and family to spend the whole 166 00:12:29,530 --> 00:12:34,090 Speaker 1: year scrimping and saving and making little sacrifices to put 167 00:12:34,090 --> 00:12:36,970 Speaker 1: a few more pounds a week into their fair pack 168 00:12:37,090 --> 00:12:41,730 Speaker 1: savings plan, and then came that Friday of the thirteenth 169 00:12:42,490 --> 00:12:44,730 Speaker 1: she was going to have to call round her friends 170 00:12:45,090 --> 00:12:49,210 Speaker 1: and family and tell them that all the Christmas money 171 00:12:49,250 --> 00:12:51,370 Speaker 1: she had collected from them as a fair pack agent, 172 00:12:52,450 --> 00:13:00,410 Speaker 1: it looked like all that money was gone. Cautionary tales 173 00:13:01,010 --> 00:13:14,090 Speaker 1: will be back in a moment. Lee Stewardson and Margaret 174 00:13:14,090 --> 00:13:18,450 Speaker 1: Trimble had been looking forward to Christmas. Like Susie Hall, 175 00:13:18,850 --> 00:13:23,010 Speaker 1: they hadn't had easy lives. Their daughter, Laura, had been 176 00:13:23,050 --> 00:13:25,850 Speaker 1: diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of five. 177 00:13:26,730 --> 00:13:30,450 Speaker 1: She died on Christmas Eve two thousand and four. She 178 00:13:30,570 --> 00:13:34,090 Speaker 1: knew it was Christmas. Lee told the journalist Steve Bird, 179 00:13:34,730 --> 00:13:39,250 Speaker 1: she was very brave. What do you'd do after a 180 00:13:39,330 --> 00:13:43,210 Speaker 1: loss like that? For a lot of people, the urges 181 00:13:43,250 --> 00:13:48,290 Speaker 1: to keep the old rituals going. My mother died in 182 00:13:48,410 --> 00:13:52,090 Speaker 1: December many years ago, when my sisters were still children. 183 00:13:52,810 --> 00:13:57,130 Speaker 1: We buried her on Christmas Eve. But we didn't turn 184 00:13:57,210 --> 00:14:00,170 Speaker 1: each Christmas after that into a kind of remembrance day 185 00:14:00,210 --> 00:14:04,330 Speaker 1: for my mother. We wanted it to be normal. Lee 186 00:14:04,410 --> 00:14:08,970 Speaker 1: and Margaret seemed to have had the same instinct. Two 187 00:14:09,210 --> 00:14:12,490 Speaker 1: years after Laura's death, they were saving up for Christmas 188 00:14:12,690 --> 00:14:18,010 Speaker 1: with Laura's younger sisters, six year old Amy and baby Aliah. 189 00:14:18,170 --> 00:14:21,570 Speaker 1: Would it be in Alia's first Christmas. We decided this 190 00:14:21,650 --> 00:14:26,530 Speaker 1: year should be special and that means presence. But Lee 191 00:14:26,730 --> 00:14:30,370 Speaker 1: wasn't lavishly paid. He worked at a seafood processing plant. 192 00:14:30,970 --> 00:14:34,370 Speaker 1: So to make sure they had that special Christmas, Lee 193 00:14:34,450 --> 00:14:38,530 Speaker 1: and Margaret had been saving with fair Pack, and now 194 00:14:39,130 --> 00:14:42,370 Speaker 1: most of their Christmas money was gone, maybe all of it. 195 00:14:48,850 --> 00:14:52,730 Speaker 1: Most experts would advise against saving up for Christmas with 196 00:14:52,770 --> 00:14:56,610 Speaker 1: a company like fair Pack. There were three reasons why. First, 197 00:14:57,010 --> 00:14:59,050 Speaker 1: you can often get a better price for those Christmas 198 00:14:59,050 --> 00:15:01,730 Speaker 1: treats if you just go to a regular supermarket or 199 00:15:01,810 --> 00:15:05,090 Speaker 1: store and keep your eyes open for bargains. Locking up 200 00:15:05,130 --> 00:15:07,490 Speaker 1: your money with a savings club means you don't have 201 00:15:07,530 --> 00:15:11,810 Speaker 1: the ability to shop around. Second, you don't usually earn 202 00:15:11,890 --> 00:15:14,930 Speaker 1: interest with a savings club. If you save your money 203 00:15:14,970 --> 00:15:17,890 Speaker 1: in a bank account instead, you earn a little extra 204 00:15:17,970 --> 00:15:22,010 Speaker 1: on top. It might not be much, but it's something. Third, 205 00:15:22,530 --> 00:15:26,130 Speaker 1: if your bank goes bankrupt, you get your money back 206 00:15:26,250 --> 00:15:30,210 Speaker 1: from a government backed compensation scheme. That's true in the US, 207 00:15:30,650 --> 00:15:33,650 Speaker 1: it's true in the UK, It's true in most rich countries, 208 00:15:34,170 --> 00:15:37,250 Speaker 1: but the same protections didn't apply to people who paid 209 00:15:37,290 --> 00:15:41,050 Speaker 1: money to fair Pack. Fair Pack wasn't regulated as a bank. 210 00:15:41,490 --> 00:15:44,810 Speaker 1: It didn't have customers money ring fenced and set aside. 211 00:15:45,450 --> 00:15:48,810 Speaker 1: In fact, because it operated to a network of agents, 212 00:15:49,250 --> 00:15:53,810 Speaker 1: it wasn't clear who the ultimate customers even were. Legally speaking, 213 00:15:54,130 --> 00:15:58,530 Speaker 1: fair Pack customers hadn't made deposits. They're paid in advance 214 00:15:58,610 --> 00:16:02,330 Speaker 1: for goods, those gifts and hampers and vouchers. And if 215 00:16:02,370 --> 00:16:04,570 Speaker 1: you pay an advance for something and then the company 216 00:16:04,610 --> 00:16:07,570 Speaker 1: goes bankrupt before you get what you paid for, well 217 00:16:07,930 --> 00:16:10,690 Speaker 1: you might get a little back when the bankruptcy proceedings 218 00:16:10,730 --> 00:16:14,970 Speaker 1: have finished, but probably not very much. Or as Susie 219 00:16:14,970 --> 00:16:17,530 Speaker 1: Hall put it, I know quite a bit about company 220 00:16:17,610 --> 00:16:21,210 Speaker 1: law and insolvency law. I knew right away it was 221 00:16:21,290 --> 00:16:25,770 Speaker 1: really bad. It wasn't clear how much fair Pax customers 222 00:16:25,770 --> 00:16:29,250 Speaker 1: would get, maybe fifty pence for every pound they'd saved, 223 00:16:29,610 --> 00:16:33,210 Speaker 1: maybe just fivepence. One thing was clear, there was no 224 00:16:33,250 --> 00:16:36,050 Speaker 1: way they'd get that money in time for Christmas. It 225 00:16:36,090 --> 00:16:46,010 Speaker 1: would take months, probably years, after fair Pack collapsed. There 226 00:16:46,050 --> 00:16:48,450 Speaker 1: was a lot of commentary lamenting the fact that if 227 00:16:48,530 --> 00:16:52,650 Speaker 1: only fair Packs unlucky customers had understood more about finance, 228 00:16:53,010 --> 00:16:55,730 Speaker 1: they would never have trusted their savings to the company. 229 00:16:56,050 --> 00:17:00,050 Speaker 1: And maybe that's true, or maybe it isn't fair Pax 230 00:17:00,130 --> 00:17:02,730 Speaker 1: customers might not have thought about the possibility that the 231 00:17:02,810 --> 00:17:06,530 Speaker 1: company could simply go belly up, but they did understand 232 00:17:06,570 --> 00:17:10,770 Speaker 1: what the business model offered them. Big insight from behavioral 233 00:17:10,850 --> 00:17:13,890 Speaker 1: sciences that we tend to value rewards in the present 234 00:17:14,410 --> 00:17:17,650 Speaker 1: more than rewards in the future. That means we struggle 235 00:17:17,690 --> 00:17:21,050 Speaker 1: with temptation. It's tough to motivate yourself to go out 236 00:17:21,090 --> 00:17:24,330 Speaker 1: for that morning run when it's dark and drizzling. It's 237 00:17:24,410 --> 00:17:27,410 Speaker 1: tough to say no to dessert. It's tough to resist 238 00:17:27,410 --> 00:17:29,730 Speaker 1: the impulse to put your hand in the cookie jar 239 00:17:30,050 --> 00:17:33,690 Speaker 1: if you know the cookies are right there. Fair Pack's 240 00:17:33,770 --> 00:17:37,250 Speaker 1: customers were families who didn't have much and who rarely 241 00:17:37,290 --> 00:17:40,050 Speaker 1: got the chance to treat themselves or their children. They 242 00:17:40,130 --> 00:17:43,250 Speaker 1: understood that they'd be tempted if the Christmas money was 243 00:17:43,370 --> 00:17:46,610 Speaker 1: just in a regular bank account. But that's not the 244 00:17:46,650 --> 00:17:49,930 Speaker 1: only clever bit of psychology at play. When we know 245 00:17:50,050 --> 00:17:53,610 Speaker 1: we might need to resist temptation, one good strategy is 246 00:17:53,650 --> 00:17:55,570 Speaker 1: to make a commitment to someone that we don't want 247 00:17:55,570 --> 00:17:57,930 Speaker 1: to let down and more likely to go for that 248 00:17:58,050 --> 00:18:00,930 Speaker 1: run on a dark and drizzling morning. If I've arranged 249 00:18:01,050 --> 00:18:03,770 Speaker 1: to run with a friend, I'm more likely to resist 250 00:18:03,770 --> 00:18:07,410 Speaker 1: dessert if I've explicitly promised my wife that I'm not 251 00:18:07,610 --> 00:18:10,370 Speaker 1: going to eat dessert for a month. It was the 252 00:18:10,410 --> 00:18:13,810 Speaker 1: same with fair Pack. Being part of the club imposed 253 00:18:13,810 --> 00:18:17,930 Speaker 1: a little extra social pressure to save. When an agent 254 00:18:18,050 --> 00:18:21,650 Speaker 1: like Suzi Equals passed to collect your weekly subscription, you 255 00:18:21,650 --> 00:18:23,450 Speaker 1: don't want to have to tell her that you don't 256 00:18:23,530 --> 00:18:29,010 Speaker 1: have the money, so you make sure you do. Heather 257 00:18:29,130 --> 00:18:32,570 Speaker 1: Skinner was a fair Pack agent like Susie. A bank 258 00:18:32,690 --> 00:18:37,010 Speaker 1: savings account was too much temptation. It's easier to take 259 00:18:37,050 --> 00:18:40,050 Speaker 1: money out of the bank, you'd always be dipping into it. 260 00:18:40,770 --> 00:18:45,450 Speaker 1: Heather lost eleven hundred pounds of her own money at 261 00:18:45,450 --> 00:18:49,290 Speaker 1: the time, that was about two thousand dollars. But she 262 00:18:49,410 --> 00:18:52,610 Speaker 1: was also an agent like Susie. Her colleagues, friends and 263 00:18:52,690 --> 00:18:56,290 Speaker 1: family lost a total of ten thousand pounds or nearly 264 00:18:56,450 --> 00:19:01,610 Speaker 1: twenty thousand dollars, and she had to call round and 265 00:19:01,810 --> 00:19:05,610 Speaker 1: tell each of them. Heather's main job was as a 266 00:19:05,730 --> 00:19:08,810 Speaker 1: part time shop assistant. It wasn't going to be easy 267 00:19:08,810 --> 00:19:11,130 Speaker 1: to take up for the money she had lost, but 268 00:19:11,250 --> 00:19:13,890 Speaker 1: she was determined that her children would get the gifts 269 00:19:13,930 --> 00:19:18,090 Speaker 1: they'd been hoping for, a computer and a bike. I've 270 00:19:18,090 --> 00:19:20,090 Speaker 1: had to get debt, and I know a few of 271 00:19:20,130 --> 00:19:23,730 Speaker 1: my customers have. So she took out a paid a loan, 272 00:19:24,330 --> 00:19:27,730 Speaker 1: fully expecting that she had paid dearly for it because 273 00:19:27,730 --> 00:19:31,290 Speaker 1: of the painful interest rates she'd saved with fair Pack 274 00:19:31,850 --> 00:19:36,930 Speaker 1: because she'd been desperate to avoid getting into debt. Christmas 275 00:19:36,970 --> 00:19:39,570 Speaker 1: loses some of its magic if you're stressed about how 276 00:19:39,650 --> 00:19:43,090 Speaker 1: much you've borrowed. But after the collapse of fair Pack, 277 00:19:43,530 --> 00:19:47,930 Speaker 1: she changed her mind. Next Christmas, she vowed she would 278 00:19:48,090 --> 00:19:51,290 Speaker 1: get the money first, pay it back later, pay for 279 00:19:51,370 --> 00:19:56,130 Speaker 1: Christmas after not before? Can you blame her? And she's 280 00:19:56,130 --> 00:20:00,090 Speaker 1: not the only person who pays for Christmas after not before. 281 00:20:00,890 --> 00:20:04,410 Speaker 1: The economist Joel Waldfogel found that in the US two 282 00:20:04,570 --> 00:20:08,450 Speaker 1: thirds of December spending is charged to credit cards, and 283 00:20:08,530 --> 00:20:11,210 Speaker 1: that many will roll over that credit card debt into 284 00:20:11,290 --> 00:20:14,650 Speaker 1: January and February. This is much more common than it was, 285 00:20:14,690 --> 00:20:18,450 Speaker 1: say back in nineteen eighty, and it's an expensive way 286 00:20:18,490 --> 00:20:22,090 Speaker 1: to pay for Christmas. But given the situation, fair Packs 287 00:20:22,130 --> 00:20:25,770 Speaker 1: customers found themselves in you can well understand why, like Heather, 288 00:20:26,250 --> 00:20:34,090 Speaker 1: some people would rather borrow than say the suffering of 289 00:20:34,210 --> 00:20:39,170 Speaker 1: fair Packs customers was particularly cruel. They were vulnerable and 290 00:20:39,370 --> 00:20:42,050 Speaker 1: desperate to do right by their children, and this was 291 00:20:42,130 --> 00:20:45,450 Speaker 1: money they couldn't afford to lose. It was sudden and 292 00:20:45,610 --> 00:20:49,570 Speaker 1: unexpected and horrible. But I think it also tells us 293 00:20:49,610 --> 00:20:54,410 Speaker 1: something important about the economist Joel Waldfogel and his idea 294 00:20:54,490 --> 00:21:01,170 Speaker 1: of deadweight loss. Remember, Americans alone spend one hundred billion 295 00:21:01,250 --> 00:21:05,730 Speaker 1: dollars on Christmas every year. If wald vocals estimates are 296 00:21:05,770 --> 00:21:09,970 Speaker 1: in the right ballpark, that's twenty billion dollars have waste 297 00:21:10,210 --> 00:21:14,210 Speaker 1: just in the United States. Around the world, it's perhaps 298 00:21:14,410 --> 00:21:21,370 Speaker 1: fifty billion dollars. Not quite a doctor Evil meme, but 299 00:21:21,530 --> 00:21:27,570 Speaker 1: still an astonishing sum. Just how astonishing becomes clear when 300 00:21:27,610 --> 00:21:31,410 Speaker 1: you consider that it's a thousand times more than fair 301 00:21:31,490 --> 00:21:36,170 Speaker 1: Pack's customers lost. Or to put it another way, if 302 00:21:36,210 --> 00:21:41,130 Speaker 1: a company like fair Pack went bankrupt every hour of 303 00:21:41,330 --> 00:21:45,650 Speaker 1: every day, day and night from Thanksgiving until Christmas Day, 304 00:21:46,050 --> 00:21:50,170 Speaker 1: all the unlucky customers of all the bankrupt fair Packs 305 00:21:50,210 --> 00:21:54,250 Speaker 1: still wouldn't have lost as much as we collectively destroy 306 00:21:54,810 --> 00:22:00,690 Speaker 1: every year just by picking bad Christmas gifts. Those bad 307 00:22:00,770 --> 00:22:05,290 Speaker 1: Christmas gifts can seem inherently comical. The tasteless cardigan that 308 00:22:05,330 --> 00:22:08,330 Speaker 1: will never get worn, the golf souvenir that gets put 309 00:22:08,330 --> 00:22:12,210 Speaker 1: in a drawer and forgotten, no wander. It appears churlish 310 00:22:12,290 --> 00:22:15,690 Speaker 1: for economists to look at these individual bits of nonsense 311 00:22:15,850 --> 00:22:19,490 Speaker 1: and insist on adding up the deadweight loss, a silly 312 00:22:19,530 --> 00:22:24,890 Speaker 1: statistic from the Ivory Tower. I think that's a mistake. 313 00:22:25,530 --> 00:22:29,930 Speaker 1: That fifty billion dollars is being spent on real resources, 314 00:22:30,890 --> 00:22:34,170 Speaker 1: energy that's contributing to climate change, and which instead we 315 00:22:34,170 --> 00:22:38,650 Speaker 1: could be using to heat our homes, scarce raw materials, 316 00:22:38,770 --> 00:22:43,290 Speaker 1: land and water and labor. All these valuable inputs could 317 00:22:43,330 --> 00:22:46,530 Speaker 1: be used to produce things that we really need, or 318 00:22:46,570 --> 00:22:49,890 Speaker 1: at the very least, things that we really value. This 319 00:22:50,090 --> 00:22:53,930 Speaker 1: is real money being spent on real, scarce resources, and 320 00:22:54,050 --> 00:22:58,290 Speaker 1: it's really being wasted. And yet when I write columns 321 00:22:58,290 --> 00:23:01,330 Speaker 1: in the Financial Times about the deadweight loss of Christmas, 322 00:23:01,970 --> 00:23:06,050 Speaker 1: people struggle to believe that I'm really being serious. But 323 00:23:06,210 --> 00:23:09,370 Speaker 1: I am, and I want to help us all solve 324 00:23:09,530 --> 00:23:25,290 Speaker 1: the problem. After this break, people have been complaining about 325 00:23:25,330 --> 00:23:29,770 Speaker 1: the Christmas shopping frenzy for a long time. There are 326 00:23:29,810 --> 00:23:32,370 Speaker 1: worlds of money wasted at this time of year in 327 00:23:32,490 --> 00:23:36,010 Speaker 1: getting things that nobody wants and nobody cares for after 328 00:23:36,050 --> 00:23:39,810 Speaker 1: they're got. That's a character in a short story by 329 00:23:39,930 --> 00:23:44,090 Speaker 1: Harriet beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. It 330 00:23:44,130 --> 00:23:47,450 Speaker 1: was published in eighteen fifty. And if that seems early, well, 331 00:23:47,730 --> 00:23:52,290 Speaker 1: the commercialization of Christmas came early two. Santa Claus was 332 00:23:52,330 --> 00:23:57,130 Speaker 1: regularly appearing in advertisements by the eighteen forties. In eighteen 333 00:23:57,210 --> 00:24:01,530 Speaker 1: sixty seven, Macey's department store in Manhattan announced it would 334 00:24:01,570 --> 00:24:05,490 Speaker 1: stay open until midnight on Christmas Eve to accommodate that 335 00:24:05,570 --> 00:24:09,610 Speaker 1: last minute gift buying spree. We've been trapped, aped by 336 00:24:09,610 --> 00:24:13,210 Speaker 1: the obligation to exchange gifts at Christmas for a long time. 337 00:24:14,490 --> 00:24:18,490 Speaker 1: In beecher Stowe's story The Good Fairy, one character makes 338 00:24:18,490 --> 00:24:22,210 Speaker 1: the simple and obvious point that Christmas gifts don't have 339 00:24:22,290 --> 00:24:25,930 Speaker 1: to be expensive to carry all the sentimental value of 340 00:24:26,050 --> 00:24:30,530 Speaker 1: something flashy. After all, if it's the thought that counts, 341 00:24:31,050 --> 00:24:35,130 Speaker 1: why do we often spend so much and think so little. 342 00:24:36,170 --> 00:24:39,130 Speaker 1: And here's a conversation from The Good Fairy in which 343 00:24:39,250 --> 00:24:44,130 Speaker 1: young Ella and her aunt ponder last year's gifts that 344 00:24:44,210 --> 00:24:48,250 Speaker 1: ring I gave Missus B was twenty dollars, And do 345 00:24:48,330 --> 00:24:52,850 Speaker 1: you suppose Missus B was any happier for it? No? Really, 346 00:24:53,410 --> 00:24:55,970 Speaker 1: I don't think she cared much about it. But I 347 00:24:56,010 --> 00:24:58,490 Speaker 1: had to give her something because she had sent me 348 00:24:58,570 --> 00:25:03,850 Speaker 1: something the year before, that one hard, cold, glittering ring 349 00:25:04,250 --> 00:25:08,370 Speaker 1: that now cheers nobody and means nothing. That you give 350 00:25:08,650 --> 00:25:12,490 Speaker 1: because you must, and she takes because she must, might 351 00:25:12,850 --> 00:25:16,810 Speaker 1: if broken up into smaller sums, send real, warm and 352 00:25:16,930 --> 00:25:22,130 Speaker 1: heartfelt gladness through many a cold and cheerless dwelling through 353 00:25:22,210 --> 00:25:26,850 Speaker 1: many an aching heart. I just love the way that 354 00:25:26,850 --> 00:25:31,050 Speaker 1: the Christmas gift dilemma is so perfectly observed here. Ella 355 00:25:31,170 --> 00:25:35,130 Speaker 1: spent twenty dollars on Missus B for a useless gift 356 00:25:35,690 --> 00:25:39,370 Speaker 1: because Ella had to give something and Missus B had 357 00:25:39,410 --> 00:25:44,730 Speaker 1: to graciously receive it. It's also pointless. And remember it's 358 00:25:44,970 --> 00:25:49,970 Speaker 1: one fair pack, an hour's worth of real resources being wasted. 359 00:25:54,730 --> 00:25:59,930 Speaker 1: When fair Pack collapsed, the nation rallied round sort of. 360 00:26:00,650 --> 00:26:03,490 Speaker 1: A fund was set up to replace the lost vouchers. 361 00:26:03,930 --> 00:26:07,530 Speaker 1: Some supermarkets through in a few hundred thousand dollars. Some 362 00:26:07,730 --> 00:26:11,250 Speaker 1: members of parliament don't did a day's salary and solidarity 363 00:26:12,090 --> 00:26:15,290 Speaker 1: my lean class. A pop star raised money for the 364 00:26:15,330 --> 00:26:19,050 Speaker 1: compensation fund by auctioning off a white bikini that she 365 00:26:19,090 --> 00:26:22,530 Speaker 1: had warmed too great effect on a reality TV show. 366 00:26:23,090 --> 00:26:27,770 Speaker 1: All very jolly, but in the end fair Pack's customers 367 00:26:27,770 --> 00:26:31,250 Speaker 1: only got about half their money back, and they didn't 368 00:26:31,250 --> 00:26:35,930 Speaker 1: get it until almost six years after the company collapsed. 369 00:26:37,930 --> 00:26:41,850 Speaker 1: The loss was a hammer blow for many savers. Rikou Shah, 370 00:26:42,130 --> 00:26:45,330 Speaker 1: a taxi driver from Stockton on Tees in northern England, 371 00:26:45,770 --> 00:26:49,370 Speaker 1: had given six hundred pounds to fair Pack to buy 372 00:26:49,450 --> 00:26:53,490 Speaker 1: presents for his three step children, and after fair Pack folded, 373 00:26:54,210 --> 00:27:00,650 Speaker 1: he was stunned. He became quiet and withdrawn. Then a 374 00:27:00,770 --> 00:27:04,890 Speaker 1: month after the bankruptcy, with Christmas just around the corner, 375 00:27:05,770 --> 00:27:10,410 Speaker 1: he was found dead in the River Tees. Debbie Shah, 376 00:27:10,490 --> 00:27:14,970 Speaker 1: his widow, told the local papers that Ricu had killed himself. 377 00:27:16,050 --> 00:27:19,450 Speaker 1: She wondered whether the shock and shame of being unable 378 00:27:19,450 --> 00:27:23,170 Speaker 1: to provide a proper family Christmas had contributed to the tragedy. 379 00:27:24,050 --> 00:27:26,330 Speaker 1: I think it's played a part in it, she said, 380 00:27:27,250 --> 00:27:29,930 Speaker 1: but how much of a part I'm never going to know. 381 00:27:32,130 --> 00:27:36,130 Speaker 1: It's clear that people feel real pressure to spend money 382 00:27:36,130 --> 00:27:39,930 Speaker 1: at Christmas, and some feel ashamed if they don't have it. 383 00:27:43,970 --> 00:27:48,770 Speaker 1: People laugh at economists warning of bad Christmas gifts. Maybe 384 00:27:48,770 --> 00:27:51,330 Speaker 1: it's because we've got it wrong, but I suspect it 385 00:27:51,450 --> 00:27:55,210 Speaker 1: just highlights that we economists have bad branding and poor 386 00:27:55,250 --> 00:27:59,170 Speaker 1: communication skills, because other people seem to get away with 387 00:27:59,210 --> 00:28:02,930 Speaker 1: delivering the same message, and not just characters. In Harriet 388 00:28:02,930 --> 00:28:06,690 Speaker 1: beecher Stowe stories, when religious leaders such as the Pope 389 00:28:07,050 --> 00:28:11,970 Speaker 1: warned that grotesque commercialize is obscuring the true spirit of Christmas, 390 00:28:12,290 --> 00:28:16,610 Speaker 1: nobody says they're being like Scrooge. In fact, we celebrate 391 00:28:16,650 --> 00:28:21,650 Speaker 1: the idea of transcending the commercial urges of Christmas. For example, 392 00:28:21,850 --> 00:28:25,490 Speaker 1: in the book How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Doctor Seuse 393 00:28:25,650 --> 00:28:28,050 Speaker 1: offers us a fable in which all the gifts and 394 00:28:28,130 --> 00:28:31,170 Speaker 1: all the food are stolen by the Grinch in the 395 00:28:31,330 --> 00:28:35,050 Speaker 1: classic reverse Santa Claus move of sneaking down every chimney 396 00:28:35,250 --> 00:28:38,970 Speaker 1: in the little town of Whoville. But the theft doesn't 397 00:28:38,970 --> 00:28:43,850 Speaker 1: prevent the who's of Whoville gathering together to sing in celebration. 398 00:28:44,850 --> 00:28:50,010 Speaker 1: He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming. It came somehow or other. 399 00:28:50,650 --> 00:28:55,450 Speaker 1: It came just the same, So why didn't Christmas come 400 00:28:55,570 --> 00:29:00,090 Speaker 1: just the same? For Susie Hall and Heather Skinner and Ricouchard. 401 00:29:00,810 --> 00:29:04,290 Speaker 1: Why didn't they just forget the presents and sing carols instead? 402 00:29:05,610 --> 00:29:09,490 Speaker 1: Because the difference between fair Pack and the Grinch is 403 00:29:09,530 --> 00:29:14,290 Speaker 1: that the Grinch stole everyone's gifts, but fair Pack just 404 00:29:14,410 --> 00:29:19,090 Speaker 1: let down isolated families here and there. All around them, 405 00:29:19,130 --> 00:29:22,930 Speaker 1: everyone else was still giving and receiving gifts. Maybe if 406 00:29:22,930 --> 00:29:25,810 Speaker 1: the whole country had been saving with fair Pack, we 407 00:29:25,850 --> 00:29:28,610 Speaker 1: could have made the Who's down in Whoville and all 408 00:29:28,730 --> 00:29:33,250 Speaker 1: sung together. But that's not how it works. Instead, being 409 00:29:33,370 --> 00:29:36,130 Speaker 1: unable to provide for your family and give to your 410 00:29:36,170 --> 00:29:40,170 Speaker 1: friends at Christmas is a source of isolation and shame. 411 00:29:41,450 --> 00:29:46,170 Speaker 1: One disappointed fair Pack customer put it best. Most people 412 00:29:46,210 --> 00:29:48,970 Speaker 1: say kids get too much these days anyway, But I 413 00:29:49,050 --> 00:29:52,450 Speaker 1: have got four children, all at various ages, Like I say, 414 00:29:52,490 --> 00:29:55,450 Speaker 1: you can't tell the little too father Christmas can call 415 00:29:55,530 --> 00:29:59,570 Speaker 1: next door, but you can't call here, you know exactly, 416 00:30:01,410 --> 00:30:05,010 Speaker 1: So what can we do? One answer is suggested by 417 00:30:05,010 --> 00:30:08,690 Speaker 1: a set of studies conducted by researchers from Stanford and 418 00:30:08,770 --> 00:30:14,330 Speaker 1: Half Francesca Gino, Francis Flynn, and Gabrielle Adams. They asked 419 00:30:14,330 --> 00:30:18,050 Speaker 1: people to imagine themselves either giving or receiving a gift 420 00:30:18,570 --> 00:30:22,490 Speaker 1: expensive or token from a wish list or a surprise. 421 00:30:23,330 --> 00:30:27,450 Speaker 1: Givers thought that an expensive surprise would be most appreciated. 422 00:30:28,290 --> 00:30:31,090 Speaker 1: They thought picking from a wish list would come across 423 00:30:31,090 --> 00:30:34,930 Speaker 1: as lazy and impersonal, But recipients didn't see it like 424 00:30:34,970 --> 00:30:37,730 Speaker 1: that at all. Not only did they prefer to get 425 00:30:37,810 --> 00:30:40,370 Speaker 1: something from their wish list, they also said it was 426 00:30:40,530 --> 00:30:44,010 Speaker 1: more thoughtful, and they were just as happy with inexpensive 427 00:30:44,050 --> 00:30:48,690 Speaker 1: gifts as pricy ones. This study shows that givers and 428 00:30:48,810 --> 00:30:53,890 Speaker 1: recipients of gifts see the world very differently. But what's 429 00:30:53,890 --> 00:30:57,010 Speaker 1: strange about that is that, of course at Christmas, we're 430 00:30:57,050 --> 00:31:00,970 Speaker 1: both givers and receivers. We should put ourselves in the 431 00:31:01,010 --> 00:31:05,090 Speaker 1: shoes of the people receiving our gifts, and since we 432 00:31:05,170 --> 00:31:11,570 Speaker 1: receive gifts ourselves, it really shouldn't be too hard. Shortly 433 00:31:11,690 --> 00:31:15,490 Speaker 1: after the Christmas that fair pack ruined, I was touched 434 00:31:15,610 --> 00:31:18,690 Speaker 1: when I read a letter to a newspaper which said, 435 00:31:19,530 --> 00:31:22,330 Speaker 1: tucked inside the gift card attached to the present from 436 00:31:22,330 --> 00:31:24,810 Speaker 1: one of my closest friends was a letter in which 437 00:31:24,850 --> 00:31:27,970 Speaker 1: she ventured to suggest that, as neither of us really 438 00:31:28,050 --> 00:31:31,130 Speaker 1: has a need for anything, this should be the last 439 00:31:31,170 --> 00:31:34,730 Speaker 1: time we exchanged Christmas presents. She went on to say 440 00:31:35,090 --> 00:31:37,890 Speaker 1: that she had been very affected by the collapse of 441 00:31:38,010 --> 00:31:42,370 Speaker 1: fair Pack with all its consequences, mentioning that some had 442 00:31:42,410 --> 00:31:45,450 Speaker 1: lost as much as two thousand pounds. She asked what 443 00:31:45,690 --> 00:31:48,930 Speaker 1: pressure people are under that makes them feel Christmas should 444 00:31:48,930 --> 00:31:52,970 Speaker 1: cost them so much? Has fair Pack at least left 445 00:31:52,970 --> 00:31:55,970 Speaker 1: a legacy that could make enough of us stop and 446 00:31:56,210 --> 00:32:01,290 Speaker 1: think what we are doing. One does not simply cancel 447 00:32:01,490 --> 00:32:05,730 Speaker 1: Christmas unilaterally, but we can all play our own little 448 00:32:05,810 --> 00:32:10,290 Speaker 1: role in shaping the Christmas culture. We can start conversations 449 00:32:10,290 --> 00:32:12,930 Speaker 1: with our loved ones about the kind of Christmas we 450 00:32:13,010 --> 00:32:16,090 Speaker 1: want to have. I suspect lots of us don't do 451 00:32:16,170 --> 00:32:19,370 Speaker 1: that for the reason revealed by the Stanford Harvard study. 452 00:32:19,930 --> 00:32:22,770 Speaker 1: We think I'd be happy to get a small gift 453 00:32:22,770 --> 00:32:25,170 Speaker 1: from a wish list, but I can't suggest that to 454 00:32:25,290 --> 00:32:30,570 Speaker 1: others because I'm sure they prefer expensive surprises. But if 455 00:32:30,650 --> 00:32:34,130 Speaker 1: we do raise the subject, we might just find that 456 00:32:34,290 --> 00:32:39,730 Speaker 1: others are making the same mistaken assumptions about us. In 457 00:32:39,850 --> 00:32:44,410 Speaker 1: Harriet Beecher Stowe's story The Good Fairy, her characters decide 458 00:32:44,450 --> 00:32:48,330 Speaker 1: to stop giving Christmas presents all together and make charitable 459 00:32:48,370 --> 00:32:52,130 Speaker 1: donations instead, that's a step too far for me. I 460 00:32:52,330 --> 00:32:54,930 Speaker 1: still buy Christmas presents. Most of us are going to 461 00:32:55,050 --> 00:32:58,570 Speaker 1: keep on buying Christmas presents, but I think we should 462 00:32:58,610 --> 00:33:03,610 Speaker 1: be spending a bit less and thinking a great deal more. 463 00:33:04,730 --> 00:33:08,050 Speaker 1: Or perhaps we should take our lead from the reformed 464 00:33:08,290 --> 00:33:12,250 Speaker 1: Ebenezer Scrooge. He knew how to keep Christmas as well 465 00:33:12,250 --> 00:33:15,250 Speaker 1: as anyone didn't he. But if you go back and 466 00:33:15,490 --> 00:33:19,690 Speaker 1: reread a Christmas Carol, he'll see that Scrooge didn't waste 467 00:33:19,730 --> 00:33:23,210 Speaker 1: his money on extravagant and showy gifts for people who 468 00:33:23,250 --> 00:33:28,130 Speaker 1: didn't need them. Instead, he gave the Cratchett family food 469 00:33:28,170 --> 00:33:32,210 Speaker 1: that they desperately needed in the form of a prize turkey. 470 00:33:32,650 --> 00:33:35,130 Speaker 1: And he gave his nephew the gift of his time 471 00:33:35,170 --> 00:33:40,770 Speaker 1: and attention, playing games and making merry. Finally, he gave 472 00:33:40,850 --> 00:33:47,530 Speaker 1: Bob Cratchett the greatest Christmas gift of all money. That's 473 00:33:47,570 --> 00:34:07,050 Speaker 1: the Christmas spirit. God bless us everyone. For a full 474 00:34:07,050 --> 00:34:09,570 Speaker 1: list of our sources, please see the show notes at 475 00:34:09,650 --> 00:34:37,090 Speaker 1: Tim Harford dot com. Portionary Tales is written by me 476 00:34:37,450 --> 00:34:41,450 Speaker 1: Tim Harford with Andrew Wright. It's produced by Ryan Dilley 477 00:34:41,650 --> 00:34:45,450 Speaker 1: with support from Courtney Gareno and Emily Vaughan. The sound 478 00:34:45,450 --> 00:34:48,930 Speaker 1: design and original music is the work of Pascal Wise. 479 00:34:49,410 --> 00:34:52,810 Speaker 1: It features the voice talents of Ben Crow, Melanie Gutridge, 480 00:34:53,090 --> 00:34:57,050 Speaker 1: Stella Halford, and rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have 481 00:34:57,050 --> 00:35:00,610 Speaker 1: been possible without the work of Mia La Belle, Jacob Weisberg, 482 00:35:00,890 --> 00:35:05,930 Speaker 1: Heather Fane, John Schnars, Julia Barton, Carlie mcgliori, Eric Sandler, 483 00:35:06,250 --> 00:35:11,970 Speaker 1: Royston Basserve, Maggie Taylor, Nicole Mr, Danielle Lakhan, and Maya Kanig. 484 00:35:12,610 --> 00:35:16,610 Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. 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