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The Hidden Marriage Market - Rob Henderson's Newsletter

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“Incidentally, the marriage market is probably the strongest reason to pay for expensive private schools. Going to Harvard may not get you a better job but almost certainly puts you in an exclusive dating pool for life.” This is a quote from Bryan Caplan’s superb book, The Case Against Education. He’s alluding to assortative mating, or the trend whereby people tend to personally choose romantic partners who are similar to themselves. If you live in a WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) society, you almost certainly view personal choice to be a crucial precondition for marriage. But in many parts of Asia and Africa, leaving such matters to individual choice is often seen as impractical, unnecessary, or even dangerous. In many countries around the world, including parts of China, India, Indonesia, and Nigeria, there often isn’t much choosing going on. Marriages are frequently arranged. To be clear, most of these countries do recognize the existence of romantic lov

The Hidden Marriage Market The college sorting machine has replaced traditional arranged marriages Rob Henderson Jul 14, 2024 408 24 43 Share Subscribe Share Give a gift subscription “Incidentally, the marriage market is probably the strongest reason to pay for expensive private schools. Going to Harvard may not get you a better job but almost certainly puts you in an exclusive dating pool for life.” This is a quote from Bryan Caplan’s superb book, The Case Against Education . He’s alluding to assortative mating, or the trend whereby people tend to personally choose romantic partners who are s

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