Regretting the dating market, in the Atlantic

In the Atlantic, the authors regret that marriages are no longer made in heaven, but are becoming a market...

The ‘Dating Market’ Is Getting Worse
The old but newly popular notion that one’s love life can be analyzed like an economy is flawed—and it’s ruining romance. by ASHLEY FETTERS and KAITLYN TIFFANY

Many people are quoted, most briefly and to the effect that the marriage market is a new and bad phenomenon.

"The application of the supply-and-demand concept, Weigel said, may have come into the picture in the late 19th century, when American cities were exploding in population. “There were probably, like, five people your age in [your hometown],” she told me. “Then you move to the city because you need to make more money and help support your family, and you’d see hundreds of people every day.” When there are bigger numbers of potential partners in play, she said, it’s much more likely that people will begin to think about dating in terms of probabilities and odds."

I seem to have been the only one who didn't have a negative quote about markets (in an interview that if I recall correctly took place on Valentine's day):

"The Stanford economist Alvin Roth has argued that Tinder is, like the New York Stock Exchange, a “thick” market where lots of people are trying to complete transactions, and that the main problem with dating apps is simply congestion. To him, the idea of a dating market is not new at all. “Have you ever read any of the novels of Jane Austen?” he asked. “Pride and Prejudice is a very market-oriented novel. Balls were the internet of the day. You went and showed yourself off.”