Dec 25, 2012 — Is there a way to make the holiday season both more efficient and more joyful? On today's Planet Money, we try to answer that question by conducting a wildly unscientific experiment. We go into a seventh-grade classroom and give a bunch of kids some small gifts -- candy, raisins, fig newtons.
n p r n e w s
on:
NCPR is supported by:
This is a Visitor-Supported website.
More from NPR
May 19, 2013 — The iconic Industrial Trust Tower in downtown Providence is empty for the first time in 85 years. Developers want to turn it into luxury apartments — and want the state and city to pay for it. But Providence — like the rest of Rhode Island — faces its own economic problems, as well as a recent failed investment.
May 19, 2013 — Their country isn't an easy place for anyone to make a living, but it's a downright hostile environment for those with disabilities. Support has mostly come from nonprofits, but activists are pressing the government to take action.
May 19, 2013 — Giuseppe Arcimboldo was a 16th-century artist who liked to play with his food, transforming it into the building blocks of many of his fantastical portraits. Artist Philip Haas has taken those portraits out of museums, reinterpreting them as colossal statues that interact with the natural environment.
May 19, 2013 — The Model S from electric car manufacturer Tesla has been named Motor Trend Car of the Year. But the company's business model is under attack by a formidable foe: the National Automobile Dealers Association, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington.
May 19, 2013 — Qusair is a strategically important town that lies between Homs, where the Syrian uprising began two years ago, and the Lebanese border. If President Bashar Assad's troops - reportedly backed by Hezbollah fighters — regain the town, they would control an important route from the coast to the capital, Damascus.
Episode 238: Making Christmas More Joyful, And More Efficient
Dec 25, 2012 — Is there a way to make the holiday season both more efficient and more joyful? On today's Planet Money, we try to answer that question by conducting a wildly unscientific experiment. We go into a seventh-grade classroom and give a bunch of kids some small gifts -- candy, raisins, fig newtons.This episode was originally released on December 21, 2010.
Gift-giving makes economists crazy. It's so inefficient!
So we wondered: Is there a way to make the holiday season both more efficient and more joyful?
On today's Planet Money, we try to answer that question by conducting a wildly unscientific experiment. We go into a seventh-grade classroom and give a bunch of kids some small gifts — candy, raisins, fig newtons.
Then we ask them how much they value what they got, and if they can think of a way to make everyone better off, without buying any more gifts. They quickly arrive at a solution: trade.
Behold, the power of economics!
Download the Planet Money iPhone App. Music: Kayne West's "Christmas In Harlem." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/ Tumblr.
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.9(MDAxNzgwMTg5MDEyMTQ4Nzc4MjdiNWVmMw004))
Missing some content? Check the source: NPR
Copyright(c) 2013, NPR
