Source: EconLog
by John Alcorn
“Charity naturally has circles and gradients. A charitable soul will perforce soon go bankrupt unless she targets and calibrates her gifts. Individual philanthropy might ignore the neediest, who tend to be socially remote from prosperous potential donors. Private institutions — for example, churches and charitable foundations — might partly specialize in extending the scope of sympathy and charity, if they, too, can reliably identify true need and desert. However, A Christmas Carol focusses narrowly on the issue of individual philanthropy by businessmen. Dickens ignores the invisible hand of markets-and-competition. Given the stark fallout of rapid industrialization and urbanization, his focus is understandable. Nonetheless the focus on Scrooge’s redemption implicitly oversells the potential effectiveness of seasonal charity in business circles as a remedy to destitution.” (12/23/24)