Is Christmas good for the economy? I feel grimy just asking the question, since so many campaigns now try to justify as “good for the economy” reduced obesity, equal rights for gay couples, an end to racism or a cure for dementia. These things are good, full stop. Any attempt to justify them as being good for economic reasons is well-meaning nonsense. The economy is a means to an end: human flourishing. It’s not an end in itself.
So let’s be clearer, and ask two totally separate questions: is gross domestic product (GDP) higher because of Christmas? And are the Christmas festivities a good thing?
The GDP question is the simpler. Obviously, we spend more in December because of Christmas. It is less obvious whether or not total consumer spending is higher across the year because of Christmas. To put it another way – without Christmas, would we still eat large roast dinners and buy gifts for ourselves and others, and just spread the spending over 12 months? Probably, but it seems plausible that Christmas does encourage more consumption overall.