Charity-Joy Acchiardo

OPEN TO NONMAJORS. TOPICS MAY INCLUDE ECONOMIC THEORY, APPLICATIONS, AND POLICY. ECONOMICS 330T AND 350K MAY NOT BOTH BE COUNTED UNLESS THE TOPICS VARY.
 

Course Number: S S 302F 

Course Title: Economics of Love and Marriage  

Semester/Year: Spring 2022 

Instructor Name: Charity-Joy Acchiardo 

Description 

In this course, we will look at the topics of love and marriage from a slightly different perspective than it is often seen! This will reveal fascinating insights into human behavior that broaden our understanding of the truly social science of economics. 

Economics is about the choices individuals make regarding their limited resources (like money, time, and love).  We’ll start by discussing the foundational principles of economics and then apply them to different situations within our area of focus.   

Be the end of this semester we will be able to answer questions like the following: 

• What factors influence the average age of marriage and why? 
• How do marriage laws affect the behaviors of individuals in long-term relationships? 
• Are our choices in love strictly rational, or are they influenced by various cognitive biases? 
• In what ways does the organization of a society and its economy affect dating and marriage? 
• In what ways do the dating and marriage customs of a society affect its economy? 

This course will require your full and active participation. The topics covered will often be for “mature audiences” and may represent views different from your own.  You are encouraged to discuss these differences in a respectful manner. 

Required Texts 

Acchiardo, C. and N. Malek. 2020 “Dismal Dating: A Student’s Guide to Romance Using the Economic Way of Thinking” The Journal of Private Enterprise, 35(3): 93-108. 

Adshade, Marina. 2013.  Dollars and Sex: How Economics Influences Sex and Love. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.  

Ariely, D. (2010). The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home. New York, NY: Harper. 

Birger, Jon. 2015. Date-onomics: How Dating Became a Lopsided Numbers Game. New York: Workman Publishing.  

Coleman, M. 2009. “Sunk Cost and Commitment to Dates Arranged Online.” Current Psychology, 28 (1): 45–54. 

Kendall, T. D. 2011. “The Relationship between Internet Access and Divorce Rate” Journal of Family and Economic Issues. 32 (2): 449-460 

Herpin N. 2005. “Love, Careers, and Heights in France, 2001.” Economics and Human Biology, 3 (3): 420-449. 

Hitsch, G. J., A. Hortaçsu, and D. Ariely. 2010. "Matching and Sorting in Online Dating." American Economic Review, 100 (1): 130-63.  

Lee, L., G. Loewenstein, D. Ariely, J. Hong and J. Young. 2008.“If I’m Not Hot, Are You Hot or Not? Physical Attractiveness Evaluations and Dating Preferences as a Function of Own Attractiveness.” Psychological Science, 19 (7): 669-677. 

Oyer, Paul. 2014.  Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press. 

Course Requirements 

Course Journal 50% 

A portfolio of 20 complete daily journals.  Entries are completed in a 2-part process. The first part of the entry is submitted before class in the form of an annotated bibliography on the daily reading.  The second part is a reflection on the class lecture and discussion and is submitted after class. 

Final Paper 50% 

Students will choose a movie, TV show, or book that tells a love story and widely appeals to college students and relate it to the economic concepts we’ve discussed in class.  An outline and introduction for the report is due halfway through the semester.  A complete draft is due a week before the final due date.   

Instructor Bio 

Charity-Joy Acchiardo is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Journal of Economics Teaching.  Her work in economic education is multifaceted and includes:  Dystopia and Economics: A Guide to Surviving Everything from the Apocalypse to Zombies; “Dismal Dating” a student’s guide to romance using the economic way of thinking; a compilation of entries from Humans of New York that serves as a springboard for economic inquiry; her websites econkahoots.com and econshark.com and many other resources dedicated to making the economics classroom more engaging. Dr. Acchiardo's passion is sharing her joy about economics with others, and she is a frequent speaker, both domestically and internationally, at workshops for educators and students. 

OPEN TO NONMAJORS. TOPICS MAY INCLUDE ECONOMIC THEORY, APPLICATIONS, AND POLICY. ECONOMICS 330T AND 350K MAY NOT BOTH BE COUNTED UNLESS THE TOPICS VARY.
 

ANALYSIS OF THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE (ITS ORGANIZATION AND THE BASIC FORCES INFLUENCING ITS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT); MONEY AND BANKING, NATIONAL INCOME, PUBLIC FINANCE, AND INTERNATIONAL LINKAGES.

PREREQUISITE: ECONOMICS 304K WITH A GRADE OF AT LEAST C-.

DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE 100 OR MORE STUDENTS.

This course is designed to introduce students to the vocabulary, concepts and models of analysis of macroeconomics. We will discuss the behavior of the aggregate economy, particularly the Gross Domestic Product; Consumption; Savings; Investment,Unemployment; Inflation; the role of the Monetary System and and Policy, the role of Taxes, Government Spending and Fiscal Policy; the National Debt and Government Budget Deficits and Surpluses; Exports, Imports and International Trade.

OPEN TO NONMAJORS. TOPICS MAY INCLUDE ECONOMIC THEORY, APPLICATIONS, AND POLICY. ECONOMICS 330T AND 350K MAY NOT BOTH BE COUNTED UNLESS THE TOPICS VARY.