tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31671374.post8594426377524494616..comments2023-10-30T07:10:34.610-07:00Comments on Underbelly: Here, Take My Money, Spare Me Your ProblemsBucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16452321114185736762noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31671374.post-50413090979553796992011-12-19T14:37:36.721-08:002011-12-19T14:37:36.721-08:00weird, weird, weird. you've got kids in their ...weird, weird, weird. you've got kids in their 40's and 50's, grandkids and great grandkids. greats -- ok, books and toys. adults -- entend subscriptions you started for them 40 or so years ago when they went off to college. but checks are the best in addition to the subscriptions. they can bank it, they can pass the money along -- let them decide.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31671374.post-91352465871961738962011-12-19T12:22:52.439-08:002011-12-19T12:22:52.439-08:00There is two things left out here. First, some gi...There is two things left out here. First, some gifts are personal, but others are social obligations that are basically fairly impersonal. Our host's thoughts apply to personal gifts, but not to social-impersonal ones: office gifts, weddings, doormen, and the like.<br /><br />Second, with social-impersonal gifts, customs vary. Many cultures believe that cash is shit, and you don't give the gift of shit. Such cultures tend to go for impersonal things like bottles of booze. But this is not universal. My tribe, for instance, is notorious for giving checks at weddings and bar mitzvahs.Ebenezer Scroogenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31671374.post-25410301746183071332011-12-17T10:49:06.043-08:002011-12-17T10:49:06.043-08:00Which is exactly why you don't look a gift hor...Which is exactly why you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.they call me troublehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18326716475693984698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31671374.post-28560483148257517622011-12-17T07:09:41.828-08:002011-12-17T07:09:41.828-08:00"Point taken, although I suspect it's pre..."Point taken, although I suspect it's pretty rate and in any event it doesn't deflect the thrust of the argument."<br /><br />No. It confirms the argument: the donor knows the donee better than s/he knows himmerself (at least in this specification). In economics terms, the Utility received by the donee is <em>significantly</em> higher than the cash itself would be.<br /><br />It's when economists start confusing money (means to the end) with Utility that they go astray--from their own theories.Ken Houghtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01440837287933536370noreply@blogger.com