Some good reads from around the web.
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine wrote a short semi-spoof mathematical proof on relationships and sex.
I don’t remember the specifics – something about numbers of dates versus the chances six months later of certain steamy sexual acts – but for five minutes it was very popular on the Internet (which meant it got emailed around a lot: that was the Internet two decades ago!)
We’ve come a long way since then. Today my friend’s proof would be spread by Twitter and Facebook, and, equally, nobody would bat an eyelid. Applying esoteric academic theory to love and marriage has gone from an undergraduate joke to mainstream respectability.
Personally, I remain very partial to explanations of why I am so much more attractive [1] in my 30s to women than when I was 21 (it’s certainly not my sports car!) or why so few men try to chat up [2] the one ‘Perfect 10 [3]‘ in a bar.
Such theories are full of holes, of course, and desperately short of romance. Yet like all economic theory, pretending the world is populated by Vulcans making purely rational choices (rather than by us nutters [4] who really do inhabit it) can yield interesting insights, and make you feel less frustrated about your partner’s obviously compromised mental state, as this article from Salon [5] explains:
Imagine, for example, a woman who has hooked up with a guy and has to weigh the cost and benefit of either staying the night or sneaking out to get a better night’s sleep in her own bed.
Either way, it’s all about resources and trade-offs,” says Paula Szuchman, author of the upcoming Spousonomics [6]
.
“If you start thinking instead like, what will he think if I leave, how will I be perceived if I don’t leave, etc., etc., you muddy the waters. If you take out the static and focus on the actual trade-off — sleep or no sleep — you’ll make the right decision. In theory.”
So take heart, mon petit: There’s an equation out there somewhere to mend it!
Happy Valentine’s Day [7]! Let’s keep the gift giving frugal [8] out there.
From the money and investing blogs
- Resources trump technology for cash generation – The Munro Fund [9]
- Wall Street’s new lie to Main Street… – Blog Maverick [10]
- …No! Diversification matters! – Darwin’s Money [11]
- How much work is DIY investing? – Oblivious Investor [12]
- When muddled modelers model muddles – The Psy-Fi blog [13]
- House price cycles – The Finance Blog UK [14]
- The rational gold investor – Asset Builder [15]
- Basic fixed income portfolio management – Amateur Asset Allocator [16]
- 26 ways to make extra money – The Wisdom Journal [17]
- Did you miss the best two years in the stock market? – Gen X Finance [18]
- Financial tips for the new graduate – Digerati Life [19]
- Some free financial apps [Best for US readers] – Fintelapps [20]
Money Maven roundup
- MH4C has advice on how to start investing [21].
- Joe Taxpayer tells US readers about donating your IRA RMD [22].
- Wealth Pilgrim reminds he is a certified financial planner [23].
- Len Penzo has 100 words on why inflation is tax without representation [24].
Mainstream money media sites
- What is driving exchanges’ urge to merge? – Peston/BBC [25]
- The pound question – Flanders/BBC [26]
- State of the world’s forests (chart) – The Economist [27]
- How will global miners spend their fortunes? – The Economist [28]
- Value beats growth, 20 times over – The Motley Fool [29]
- New acronyms for the BRIC-generation – The Motley Fool [30]
- Anthony Bolton gives an update on investing in China – FT [31]
- Better deals for buy-to-let investors – FT [32]
- Most with-profit pensions have underperformed tracker funds – FT [33]
- Another new kind of structured product – FT [34]
- Analysing an illiquid rare coin collection – FT [35]
- Women will get £2,000 a year less from state pension – Telegraph [36]
- Billions lie unclaimed in dormant accounts – Telegraph [37]
- Employers cutback staff perks due to downturn – Independent [38]
- Russian risks and rewards – Independent [39]
- Banks offer new online money management tools – Independent [40]
- Tesco launches 5.2% seven-year retail bond – Guardian [41]
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