Reading Assignment:

Read either of the two following articles from the New York Times online, (you may have to paste the following in your browser's URL window):

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/business/economy/marriage-and-the-law-of-supply-and-demand.html?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry860%23%2Fsupply%2Bdemand%2F&_r=0

http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20151027/c27sino-women/en-us/

And then answer the following:

Questions:

1. Apply the economic principles of demand and supply analysis of your first week's readings, and explain the current state of the North Americanmarriage market. (In Canada and USA, the percentage of men and women, in the age group, 14 - 60 years, is approximately same1.) Instead of general vague statements, pl. be specific and precise, for example, instead of saying tastes and preferences are different now, pl. be specific -- describe the new tastes and preferences in marriage. Pl. make sure that you limit yourself to the North American market; the trends and what is happening elsewhere, unless germane to our discussion, are not needed.

To get you started, you should look at: (i) why the demand, i.e., what are the reasons people get married -- what are the drivers of demand? (ii) what substitutes are available? (iii) what new products are emerging/will emerge? Now, you can start to apply the knowledge content you learned this week.

2. For families (usually, both mates work), having children is an economic decision -- what factors affect the demand and supply? Do long run considerations outweigh the short term?