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Who Wins in a Polygamous Society?
April 7, 2006 12:35 AM

The debut of "Big Love," the new HBO weries about a fictional polygamous family in Salt Lake City, has touched off a debate as to who gets harmed in such a family.

Well, from an economics standpoint, the reasoning is counterintuitive. That is, if polygamy wasn't banned, there would be an "arms race" between men to sit at the top of the heap.

From a recent article by Robert H. Frank, an economist at Cornell:

Permitting plural marriage in human societies would unleash competitive forces analogous to those we see in other species. With women in chronically short supply, men would face even more intense pressure than they do now to get ahead economically, to spend even longer hours honing their abs. More men would undergo cosmetic surgery. Expenditures on engagement rings would rise. Valentine's Day bouquets would be two dozen roses, not just a dozen.

So there you have it! As Mr. Franks puts it so eloquently:

Unlike other animal species, human societies can employ the power of law to constrain such positional arms races. In addition to whatever other purposes they may serve, laws against plural marriage may function as positional arms control agreements that make life less stressful for men. And this may help explain their appeal to the predominantly male legislatures that enact them.

See? Economists have answers for all of our problems...

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