With Americans getting married later and later in life, Yglesias argues that wedding presents no longer make sense because those getting married tend to already have the basics:
At least among the higher-education set, it would be fair and wise to redirect the gift-giving impulse to a more logical occasion, like college graduation. The 21st century’s debt-laden new grads are at roughly the age and life circumstances that the wedding-present tradition is suited for. Launching a new household involves large up-front costs at a time when people haven’t yet had the chance to earn much money. A little help from both parents and a broader circle of aunts and uncles and sundry cousins would be welcome. Meanwhile, leave the newlyweds to fend for themselves. Your presence at their celebration should be its own reward.
He responds to his critics:
The main pushback I’ve gotten is that the article seems written with a relatively educated relatively affluent audience in mind (i.e., Slate‘s audience) and things may look different if we’re talking about a more financially strapped couple. Maybe so, but, of course, if you want to talk about poorer people then the gift-givers are going to be poorer as well, and fundamentally I think all the same points carry over mutadis [sic] mutandis.
The Dish 