Christmas gifts – Economist Writing Every Day

This is the 4^th year in a row that the crew has put together some recommendations on products or books that we actually use, for your consideration in holiday gift buying. I’m going to put things into categories of Stuff for Adults, Kid’s Toys, Books for Adults, and Kid’s Books

Stuff for Adults (Men can be hard to shop for, so this might save Christmas!)

Scott says these scissors are amazing: “Fiskars 9 Inch Serrated Titanium Nitride Shop Shears”, available from Amazon here. Unlike some thick, heavy, or stubby heavy-duty shears, these have the feel of regular scissors, with fairly long, narrow blades. The handles are fairly substantial, and very comfortably contoured to the hand/thumb. The real magic is in the blades. They are sharp, with a very hard titanium nitride coating. Also, they have fine serrations in the cutting edge, that tend to grip the material in place as you are cutting.

Zachary recommends 5 things that he really uses at home

#1: High Lumen Candelabra Bulbs (for lighting up rooms that require candelabra bulbs)

#2 Worm-Gear Clamp (It’s great for any project that needs a quick and secure solution. Probably would fit nicely in a giftwrapped box.)

#3 Hitch Rack (seems aimed at car trips with kids)

#4 Lawn-Mower Blade Sharpener (he says it’s worth it)

#5 Transplanting Spade (if you move plants in the yard, it’s worth it over a standard shovel)

The ever-practical Jeremy just wants to make sure you are Finding Deals on Food

Food makes great presents for adults. Just give me Doritos, thanks.

Kid’s Toys

A wonderful game that you might not already have is Protect the Penguin. It’s high-energy but much less work than something like Twister. I actually enjoy playing it, too.

I’ll re-up from last year that Spot It is incredible and fits in your coat pocket. Fun for all ages. Several versions of the game. Not everyone has to know how to read or add to play so good for events with lots of ages represented. LEGO sets are always fun. If you keep the difficulty level age-appropriate than your kid should be able to play independently for an hour. I’ll put up one link but of course there are many thousands to choose from that can be tailored to any interest. My son likes Minecraft-themed sets.

Books for Adults

If you want to see all the books we have read and reviewed, just click on the Books category or go to

https://economistwritingeveryday.com/category/books/

Not all of those posts are going to give you quick gift ideas, so if I had to pick out one from the last year it would be:

Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale is a great book in my summer stack on fast fashion. I have always been interested in the combination problem-blessing of too much stuff. Adam Minter explains perfectly what many of us have been curious about.

You might have a relative who is very environmentally conscious or works hard to reuse and recycle. They might think it’s interesting to learn about the secondhand markets in America and beyond.

Kid’s Books

I’m reading The Hobbit aloud to my son right now and I highly recommend the experience. It’s going to take us months to get through it by reading a few pages at a time around bedtime.

Camp Out!: A Graphix Chapters Book (Bug Scouts #2) Funny graphic novel series about a group of friends in a scout troop. Probably especially fun for a kid who is in some kind of scouts program. Calvin and Hobbes is another comic series that my kid genuinely looks forward to reading.

Joke books can lead to great conversations. If the kid wants to know why something is funny, you can end up talking for a long time about the complex world.

See what we recommended in previous years. We have always had a mix of kid and adult items.

EWED Recommends Gifts 2022

EWED Recommends Gifts 2021

EWED Recommends Gifts for 2020 Holidays

Economists know that holiday gift-giving is inefficient. However, if it’s going to happen anyway then we try to help on the margin with our personal recommendations. First, I will explain the products that writers liked this year, and then I will list the books. I thank the writers for participating in this exercise for a second time (see last year).

Not-Books

Jeremy made strong case for portable batteries that allow you to charge your electronics. As he said, you could be someone’s battery hero! This product would make a nice tidy box to wrap for an adult and it’s under $40. Are men hard to shop for?

For stocking stuffers, Zachary recommends a children’s music CD by Laurie Berkner. Your kid will start asking for something on repeat, so why not make sure it’s something good? Zachary also reminds us to consider nostalgic wrapped snack foods.

Scott gives two solid options that are affordable and small. A keychain light for adults and a spinner toy for kids. You can buy the plastic spinners in bulk and give them out to a whole family or neighborhood of kids at the same time. A more substantial adult gift would be a folding bicycle.

I recommended a pair of running shoes and, even though this might no longer be the “hot” gift, AirPods. Some people still don’t have AirPods, and it makes a tidy package. Or, maybe your teen lost one of their ear pieces over the last year?

James reminds us to order products ahead of time because of looming supply chain delays. He also suggests some internet paid subscriptions. If you don’t want to deliver a physical wrapped package, then buying someone a year-long subscription to one of these Substacks is a great idea.

Note that the tungsten cubes you are seeing in the news are not EWED-endorsed gifts.

Books

Jeremy highlights a brand new economics book, Career and Family, about the changes in women’s labor force participation throughout the 20th century.

Yesterday, I recommended Liberty Power about American abolitionists for adults and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader for school-aged kids (in which, also, a slave trade is abolished).

Scott recommends How the Irish Saved Civilization. For many people, Scott’s book is probably a safer choice than mine because its scope is wider. Liberty Power would make a great gift for someone who reads so much that they have already finished How the Irish Saved Civilization.

James has given us a few suggestions. For fun, Murder-Bears, Moonshine, and Mayhem: Strange Stories from the Bible to Leave You Amused, Bemused, and (Hopefully) Informed. James found 4 Hour Body and 4 Hour Chef to be useful.

As a final note, a lot of my professor friends are getting the Remarkable II as a paper-reading-writing tablet. It seems superior to an iPad or previous tablets. Some functionality requires an extra data plan subscription.