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The economics of love and sex
A woman recently shared with me the secret to finding a husband. She told me to write a list of qualities that my ideal man would have and tape it to my fridge. That’s it. And while it sounds too simple to be effective, she assured me that it worked well for her. Just one week after putting ...
New Jersey Senate candidate Phil Mitsch lost his Republican Party support last week over a tweet in which he shared “good advice” for wives telling them to be “a lady in the living room and a whore in the bedroom”. I think Mr. Mitsch has perhaps lost touch with what it means to be a “whore ...
Just as peacocks spread their tails to signal virility, men have used conspicuous consumption to signal wealth and women have used the appearance of youth to signal fertility – all in the name of attracting a mate. How though, can online daters signal genuine interest to a prospective match ...
Despite spending more time working than any other group, women with advanced university degrees are having more children than other college-educated women. Why? Because the growing divide between the rich and the poor has created a willing pool of mommy-substitutes that the wealthy can afford ...
Women care about height and for many short men who are looking for a wife that means either settling for one who is less attractive or not finding one at all. There is a silver lining though: a short man who is able to establish himself economically could very well find that later in life he ...
In 2005, 45% of gay, lesbian, or bisexual youth attempted suicide in the US, compared with 8% of heterosexual youth. Some individuals have gone on the record to say that homosexual youths try to kill themselves because they know that what they are doing “is unnatural, is wrong, is immoral." I ...
Can husbands and wives write financial contracts to reduce the level of infidelity in a relationship? Evidence from the unlikely source of Ugandan marriage contracts suggests that they can. In that country refundable bride prices reduce female infidelity but, not surprisingly, do little to curb ...
Taking her husband’s name at marriage suggests to potential employers that a woman is less intelligent, less ambitious, inclined to work fewer hours and more focused on family. Recent evidence suggests that women who make that choice can expect lower wages and fewer job offers as a result ...
Over the past couple of weeks practically every media site has run a piece on a new “economic theory” that argues that gender equality is driving down the price of sex. Valid critiques have been made but analysts are missing one very important point: This is not an economic model and if it was it ...
Fifty years after the female birth control pill hit the market, male birth control is finally becoming a reality. While I will admit that it must be harder to control a billion sperm than it is to control a single egg, the real reason this technology has taken so long to arrive can be described by ...
I am thinking about investing in a husband. While it is true that I won’t be able to sell him in the future if I ever need some quick cash (so, not my most liquid asset), I have heard that the dividends can be quite good. In the past I would have considered marriage as far too risky an investment ...
This week Feministing called the UK Bill that would have banned abortion counseling “anti-choice” legislation. I think they have got that all wrong. The current arrangement gives abortion providers a financial incentive to encourage uncertain women to choose abortion – if that is the case, can we ...
Next time you buy a coffee make sure you are polite to the person who serves you – after all, her tax dollars helped fund your college education. Public funding of education doesn’t just benefit the recipient though; lower college tuition fees can reduce teen risky sexual behavior as high school ...
So, how did you spend your weekend? If you were in an area that was bracing for a hurricane my guess is that you weren’t cuddling up with your significant other. If you were in an area that had a tropical storm warning, though, you might have been doing just that. Birth rate data suggests that ...
George Taylor, an economist at Wharton School in the 1920’s, claimed there was an inverse relationship between the state of the economy and skirt lengths. Today we discuss whether or not rising skirt lengths could fuel economic growth with new research suggesting that men exposed to sexily-dressed ...