I’m buying people gift cards for Christmas, and you should, too

Vox:

I write about economics for a living, so I understand concepts of deadweight loss and depreciation and inefficiency.

That said, I still ask my parents for gift cards for Christmas every year. And I buy them for people, too.

I know this is a sacrilege, and you might, too — there are all sorts of articles out there about how gift cards are sincerely a terrible, horrible gift. And yet I keep wanting them. It could be because I’m just a bad decision-maker, but I think there are excellent reasons to get a person a gift card … provided you buy it for the right kind of person.

I think gift cards can have their place for certain people. Do you give gift cards? Do you like to get them?