Macro Musings

(REBROADCAST EPISODE) In this week’s special episode, David discusses the economics of Christmas with Laura Birg, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Goettingen, and Anna Goeddke, a professor of economics at the ESB Business School at Reutlingen University. Topics include the dead-weight loss of gift-giving, Christmas’ effects on seasonal GDP, increases in alcohol consumption, and the effect of secularization on Christmas celebrations. David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ David’s Twitter: @davidbeckworth Original episode: https://soundcloud.com/macro-musings/birggoeddeke Anna’s VoxEU profile: voxeu.org/users/annagoeddeke0 Anna’s Twitter: @annagoeddeke Laura’s University of Goettingen profile: www.uni-goettingen.de/en/362254.html Related links: “Christmas Economics – A Sleigh Ride” by Laura Birg and Anna Goeddke (2014) papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?a…stract_id=2526055 “The Seasonal Cycle and the Business Cycle” by Robert Barsky and Jeffrey Miron (1988) www.nber.org/papers/w2688 “The Bus