David Friedman - Dating Markets, Legal Systems, Bitcoin, and Automation

TL;DR

The dating market is not a perfectly efficient market due to the uniqueness of individuals and their preferences, and online dating has not significantly improved the efficiency of finding potential partners.

Transcript

today i have the pleasure of interviewing dr david friedman who is a famous enter capitalist economist and most recently the author of legal system is very different from ours so my first question is this is the dating market efficient uh in the sense it doesn't maximize net value it's not a competitive market because i'm not substitutable for anot... Read More

Key Insights

• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 The dating market is not perfectly efficient due to the uniqueness of individuals and their preferences.
• ❓ Online dating has not significantly improved the efficiency of finding compatible partners, despite its potential.
• 🤵 Legalizing polygyny and polyandry can have unexpected effects on the marriage market, benefiting or harming specific groups.
• 🙈 Ignoring search costs limits our understanding of the dating market and potential improvements.
• ❓ Different legal systems, such as sharia, still exist in some countries, but most modern legal systems are derived from a similar foundation.
• 🤝 Commitment strategies change when dealing with governments, as fighting against them is often futile and costly.
• 🖤 The world lacks diversity in legal systems due to a combination of ideology, cultural exchange, and imitative behavior among ruling groups.
• 🗯️ Property rights and norms of respect for them arise from territorial behavior observed in animals, translated to boundaries in human rights space.
• 😀 Commitment strategies play a crucial role in maintaining civil order. Governments are distinguished by their ability to elicit submission without facing resistance.
• 😚 Strategies like the Madison Fund, which challenges government regulations in court even if they know they will lose, could increase the burden on agencies and potentially make enforcement less effective.

Questions & Answers

Q: Is the dating market efficient in maximizing net value?

The dating market is not fully efficient as individuals have unique qualities and preferences that make it challenging to find a perfect match. Online dating has not significantly improved efficiency, despite using algorithms and profiles to match potential partners.

Q: Why hasn't online dating worked better than it does?

Online dating faces challenges because individuals have different tastes and qualities that cannot be easily captured in algorithms. While it offers the potential for better matching, the complexity of the dating market and search costs limit its effectiveness.

Q: What is the impact of polygyny and polyandry on the dating market?

Legalizing polygyny can benefit women and harm men by increasing the competition for wives and changing the terms of marriage. Conversely, legalizing polyandry can have the opposite effect. These effects are counterintuitive and depend on the structure of the market.

Q: Is the modern dating system more effective than traditional methods?

It is challenging to determine whether the modern Western dating system is more effective than traditional methods where parents choose partners. There are cultural and individual differences that make comparisons difficult, and the concept of love adds complexity to the decision-making process.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The dating market is not perfectly efficient as individuals have different preferences and qualities, making it challenging to find a perfect match.

• Online dating has not significantly improved the efficiency of finding compatible partners, despite the potential for using algorithms and profiles to match individuals.

• Polygyny and polyandry can have unexpected effects on the dating market, benefiting or harming specific groups depending on the context.

• Ignoring search costs, which are essential in the dating market, limits our understanding of how the market functions and how to improve it.