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Celebrating misers
December 20, 2006
Daniel Gross at Slate has yet to post his tales of Christmas Scrooges in the business world, but the online magazine does have an interesting item (actually a reprint of a 2004 column) by economist Steven E. Landsburg on why he believes, contrary to popular belief, that the original Ebenezer Scrooge is as generous as any philanthropist. He writes, “Scrooge has been called ungenerous. I say that's a bum rap. What could be more generous than keeping your lamps unlit and your plate unfilled, leaving more fuel for others to burn and more food for others to eat?” He adds, “In this whole world, there is nobody more generous than the miser—the man who could deplete the world's resources but chooses not to.”
“Saving is philanthropy,” he reports, noting that the US tax system recognizes that fact in its treatment of individual retirement accounts, although Landsburg contends the tax code now doesn’t go far enough. “Though Dickens might not have recognized it, the primary moral of A Christmas Carol is that there should be no limit on IRA contributions,” Landsburg concludes. “It's taxes, not misers, that need reforming.”
If you’re looking for some onscreen holiday reading, you can find the full text of A Christmas Carol here.
Posted by Rick Nelson on December 20, 2006 | Comments (0)
