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Freakonomics Radio

511. Why Did You Marry That Person?

Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.532.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2022

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sure, you were “in love.” But economists — using evidence from "Bridgerton" to Tinder — point to what’s called “assortative mating.” And it has some unpleasant consequences for society.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Mark Goney is from Spain, but a few years ago he moved to Norway.

0:08.4

I live here with my girlfriend.

0:10.2

Is your girlfriend Spanish?

0:11.8

No, she's from Estonia actually.

0:15.4

Did you meet her at a ball at the Queen's Alice?

0:20.0

No, no, no, no.

0:21.0

I'm as far as possible from the Aristocracy.

0:25.4

So you're saying for the record, you're not an aristocrat.

0:29.0

I'm not an aristocrat.

0:32.8

Although Goney is not an aristocrat, he is the next best thing.

0:36.7

At least in my book, he's an economist.

0:39.6

He teaches at the University of Bergen.

0:42.2

Among his research interests are economic history and marriage.

0:47.2

Most people when they think about marriage, they think about it in terms of preferences

0:52.7

and in terms of love.

0:54.3

But economists aren't most people.

0:56.8

We economists tend to focus on other factors and namely the fact that the person you end up with

1:04.5

is not only the person you choose, but it's also determined by the set of people that you have met.

1:12.4

So this idea is what encapsulates the idea of the marriage market.

1:18.9

Is marriage really a market?

1:21.5

That's the question we'll try to answer today through the lens of Bridgerton.

1:25.6

Oh, you're kind of possibly thinking of marrying him.

...

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