There's a new book out called Scroogernomics that explains very well one of the things I hate most about the upcoming holiday season: Gift giving is extremely wasteful.

The examples I've seen in reviews are quite illustrative. Let's say you go to the store and buy a sweater for $40. It's exactly what you want, at least within that price range. It's the right size, color, brand, style, whatever.

Now, let's say your Aunt Mergatrude goes to the the store to spend $40 on you. She doesn't actually know your favorite color. She doesn't know what's already in your closet. She doesn't know that the guy who used to date your wife used to wear that style, or that you think that anyone who displays that brand on the outside of their clothing is a pretentious ass. These are simply not conversations you have with her.

So she spends 40 of her hard earned bucks to buy you this rag, which you accept with what you hope is grace. She's not a complete idiot, though, and knows that for some reason that you will never share with her, she has missed the mark on this. The gift giving has not given her the hoped for warm fuzzies, you now have a piece of crap you have to keep around at least until you think she's forgotten it, and she's out 40 bucks.

Two years later, you clean it out of your closet, never worn, and it eventually ends up in the shopping cart of some homeless guy who, finally, becomes the first person since the department store to gain from this transaction. What a freakin' waste.

Not sure how you make a whole book out of that. You can, no doubt, come of with a few good examples yourself. But it's one of those things that most people don't want to bring up. To much tradition at risk. Screw it.

I'd like to cap all gift giving opportunities at $30 and make it a social standard that you MUST give a gift certificate if you don't actually have access to something that you can get cheaper than the recipient.

I'll let you guys know how that works out for me once I discuss it with my better half.

c0c0c0