Economics (of Dating) 101: On Free Trade
3:46 AM
A series where I attempt to explain basic economic principles through the global dating scene. (Note: imported from previous blog)
Q: So I just got back from my trip from San Francisco and I gotta say...they call it Man Francisco for a reason! But why do I get so much attention from the men there but only attract retired professors here in Hong Kong?
You, my friend, are a beneficiary and victim of the free market economy. Over the last few thousand years, mankind has domesticated camels to trade silk, built vessels to trade spices and tea, created multilateral institutions to trade freely...and now, cheap airline tickets and visa exemption agreements have allowed you to fly seven thousand miles to trade flirtatious glances with male programmers in San Francisco. What a time to be alive and single!
But it's great that you brought up the discrepancy between your perceived value in San Francisco versus that in Hong Kong. Free trade has its drawbacks too. Just listen to the impassioned speeches of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump--introducing lower cost, foreign goods and labor will certainly put us honest, domestic folks out of business! Similarly, as a domestic product of Hong Kong yourself, it's only natural that you feel the forces of global demand and supply and the threat of external competition.
Q: Okay...so I'll ignore the fact that you just commodified me, but do go on...
Well, here's a disclaimer--I will continue to commodify you, but it's really to prove a point! Hong Kong has one of the most open economies in the world. Most of the time, people enter freely and leave freely. Things are bought and things are sold. If someone has a demand for a good, it's relatively easy to find a supplier--such is the beauty and convenience of free markets.
However, an open economy does cause more fluctuation in the value of goods. Let's look at this supply and demand chart of Hong Kong (straight) females in a closed economy here:
This all changes with free trade. Suddenly, there is an influx of similarly attractive females from all over the world who can be wooed in easier ways (hence the lower "price")! The supply and demand chart now looks like this:
As you can see, this new supply of "lower cost" (P2) but not necessarily lower quality females completely disrupts the original equilibrium. With free trade and an increase of total supply, some buyers will not see a point in paying a much higher price for a good when there is a plethora of more affordable options on the market. Demand for international females will increase as demand for HK females decreases. The happy equilibrium is no more, and instead demand and supply meet at point B, in favor of international females. Note that at point B, the quantity of matches (Q2) is more than the quantity of matches (Q1) in the closed market! Perhaps the increased supply has also made more Hong Kong males more confident about entering the dating scene.
Q: Wait, so are you saying I have no chance of dating guys in Hong Kong due to free trade?
Let's be more positive, please! Many nations have survived in the face of globalization, and you can too! One option is to position yourself as a "luxury good" with "brand value." Brand value is why even though the world is flooded with cheap Japanese/Korean cars, even cheaper Chinese smartphones, and $1 shirts sewn by the unpaid hands of 12-year-olds, many people still pay ridiculous amounts for Ferraris, iPhones, and Chanel. If you can find a "luxury market" that appreciates your high standards, all the better for you! Of course, this requires justification that you are indeed a "luxury item" worthy of adoration.
Or, you can engage in an act commonly known as "lowering your standards." This act illustrates how free trade forces its domestic producers to lower their prices in order to survive amid foreign competition. To compete in this new market, HK females would have to move down their supply curve from Point A to Point C (in the chart below), where P2 = domestic price = international price. Females who prefer the term "being pragmatic" to "lowering standards" will be happy to move from point A to point C, but there will still be females who don't budge and prefer to keep waiting for Prince Charming. Thus, the quantity of matches also decreases from Q1 to Q3.
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