I had to write this!

Suddenly thought of something. Now, people always look for the freedom of love. As such, many need to go through the trial and tribulations of the trial and error process. Many might not even find a partner. As such, huge dating agencies and even overseas bride-matching firms spring up. And in China, they used to just need a match-maker, some money and a compatible social status to get married.

Yes yes, women had little say back then, and yes yes, there have been many (dramatised) situations where the couples are not in love with each other, but they are wrongful and woefully brought together for many reasons. Some accept, some enjoyed, but yes, unfortunately, many suffered (and it is usually the females).

Alas, the social stigma with dating agencies. Are they on par with being an ex-convicts (give them a chance too!!) foreign workers (they help build our country for goodness sake!), sex workers (some are forced due to many reasons..). This is a bit of a digression, but what I am driving at is this: What is the cost of free courtship (love)?

(1) Time to find 1, (2) uncertainty of getting 1, (3) Monetary cost of finding 1, (4) Social stigma of not finding 1, (5) Angst to parents for not passing down the bloody line, (6) Disability to carry on with normal life from a broken heart....

There are many. And here I ask, is free courtship worth is cost? What about some social planning? Certainly I am against forcing girls into some wedding, but is the idea of free market too time-consuming? Only classical economic models assume perfect mobility of the demand and supply curves in the short run. There is sticky preference! We choose, and we choose long and hard. We woo, and we woo with failure and success. But for the sake of social engineering, is there any better way? I do not have the solutions to this problem, but maybe someone can enlighten me on this?