Imaginary (Sao Paulo) Memories

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NF: Of course it's a market thing!

CK: ...

NF: Look, it's all part of the same general mechanism - there are markets where prices do all the work - the stock exchanges! Then there are markets where standardization has resulted in fungibility - say the commodities market. You don't care whom you buy from - you post a price and everyone who's selling a special type of, say wheat, will sell. The reason one price works in this case is because standardization means low variance in the quality of the product.

CK: <*bored*> ...

NF: However, there are some markets where prices are not enough - say the markets for schools, or organ donations - and yes marriage.

CK: ...

NF: You don't seem convinced. Allow me to quote Alvin Roth - one of my heroes:

Marriage is very much a matching market. You care who you’re matched to, and you can’t just choose who you want to be matched to; your proposal has to be accepted. And, yes, while prices play a role in so many things, a marriage is a very complex relational contract and it’s hard to specify it with prices. 

Many, many markets are not decided only by prices. And there are some markets where we don’t allow prices to play a role at all.

CK: ...

NF: ...

CK: But what about love?

NF: Ha! What an intriguing notion... how amusing indeed!