Last Spring, Mark Gimein, who is usually more known for his investigative journalism, wrote an interesting article using game theory to explain why there are seemingly so few eligible male bachelors in their 30s relative to the number of attractive, eligible women.

His thesis is that highly eligible women don’t bid aggressively for men as they are always hoping for someone better to come along. Less eligible women bid more aggressively and end up with most of the men.

It strikes me that his conclusion is correct but his analysis inverted: men are the bidders and women choose whether to accept the bids. Highly eligible women reject bids hoping for future higher bids. The jilted men in turn bid for less eligible women who accept the bids.

Regardless, if you are a single woman in your thirties look at the bright side: you must be highly eligible 🙂

The article makes for fun reading. You can find it at:
http://www.slate.com/id/2188684/