Everything you need to know about economic disputes is contained in Christmas gift-giving. One side questions the value of schlepping out to the mall every year to buy Aunt Susie a sweater she’ll never wear, a kitchen gadget she’ll never use, or a gift card she will mislay while she does the same for you. This side might be termed the rationalist school of Christmas, the Hayek side, the conservative side, the realist side, even the masculine side.
A stance in defense of Christmas, which draws on the behavioralist school of economics, Keynesian thought, political liberalism and sentimentality, is easily dubbed the feminine school in a nod to the hard-wired distaff obsessions with shopping and nesting . Any who doubt Christmas is feminine need only take a survey of any holiday-season mall during December weeks when gentlemen are entranced by Sunday, Monday and Thursday night football.
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