# What is a gift economy?

- Institution: TED
- Department: TED-Ed
- Speaker: Alex Gendler
- Year: 2014
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Economics, Business and management, Society and politics, Teaching and learning
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/alex_gendler_what_is_a_gift_economy)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

What if, this holiday season, instead of saying "thank you" to your aunt for her gift of a knitted sweater, the polite response expected from you was to show up at her house in a week with a better gift? Or to vote for her in the town election? Or let her adopt your firstborn child? Alex Gendler explains how all of these things might not sound so strange if you were involved in a gift economy. \[Directed by Avi Ofer, narrated by Pen-Pen Chen\].

## Lectures

1. [What is a gift economy?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/alex_gendler_what_is_a_gift_economy/6e7bb23dac6c), 4 min (TED's player)