16 Responses to “More Sex on Valentine’s Day”

1. 1 1 Nickolaus
   January 28, 2013 at 10:42 am

   Just to clarify, this looks like its at the UMBC campus, which is not the campus in Baltimore City.. it’s the one in Baltimore County. Not too far away though, and I’ll definitely be there!

2. 2 2 Steve Landsburg
   January 28, 2013 at 11:04 am

   Nickoloaus: I edited to make this clearer. Thanks.

3. 3 3 EricK
   January 29, 2013 at 3:38 am

   Something has always bothered me about that essay of yours. You talk about Promiscuous Pete, and Martin and Joan, and how if anyone sleeps with Joan it would be better that it is Martin and not Pete. But aren’t you forgetting someone? And that person is whomever Pete hooks up with instead of Joan. Because, if Romford on a Saturday night is anything to go by, Pete *will* hook up with someone else. So if all the promiscuous people still have as much sex as before with as many different partners, and new people join that pool, that can’t slow down the spread of disease can it?

4. 4 4 Kirk
   January 29, 2013 at 10:23 am

   Steve can always manage to hijack my reading with his posts! Right in the middle of The Progress Paradox by Gregg Easterbrook, now I’ve downloaded More Sex is Safer Sex and abandoned poor Gregg!

5. 5 5 Ken B
   January 30, 2013 at 10:47 am

   @Kirk 4: Ahh, but will more sex make you happier?

6. 6 6 nobody.really
   January 30, 2013 at 4:56 pm

   Recall how last November Landsburg advocated NOT paying off the national debt? Yglesias agrees with Landsburg.

   Perhaps the world really did end in 2012 and I just didn’t get the memo?

7. 7 7 Ken B
   January 31, 2013 at 8:41 am

   @6: I believe Steve repented. Nick Rowe showed that if you have uncertainty, then with the usual assumptions about risk aversion etc, it’s better to slowly pay off the debt.

8. 8 8 Martin-2
   January 31, 2013 at 9:59 am

   EricK (3) – Martin’s increased promiscuity makes it slightly harder for Pete to find a partner. That’s because the number of available women is not infinite. If we look at all the Petes of the world it is an arithmetic necessity that one of them will go home alone
   (unless supply increases in response to demand somehow, so the average number of disappointed Petes is between 0 and 1)
   (or maybe female partners are over-supplied to begin with so Pete can indeed find someone else at ~0 cost, but then the example works if we talk about Martha and Pamela instead).

9. 9 9 Martin-2
   January 31, 2013 at 10:05 am

   Steve, have you ever given this talk to a predominantly female audience and used this reasoning to encourage the shy ones to have more sex? Your classroom would probably get raided by feminists again.

10. 10 10 Martin_M
    January 31, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    @9: “Again”? His classroom has previously been raided by feminists? I evidently missed this.

11. 11 11 Kirk
    January 31, 2013 at 10:52 pm

    Paradoxically, More Sex will probably progress me towards being safer but not happier

12. 12 12 Martin-2
    February 1, 2013 at 4:32 am

    Martin_M (10) – Yup, during the Sandra Fluke incident last March. At one point a left-wing student group marched into Steve’s lecture to stand silently in front of everyone in protest. I should clarify it is just my uneducated guess that those students identify as feminist.

13. 13 13 Chicago Methods
    February 3, 2013 at 5:34 pm

    One of these days, it would be a pleasure to see a lecture from you if you’re ever in the Minnesota, Twin Cities area.

14. 14 14 nobody.really
    February 6, 2013 at 12:02 am

    I’m still waiting for Landsburg’s debut with Cirque du Soleil.

15. 15 15 Ken B
    February 6, 2013 at 11:03 am

    @14: Indeed! We haven’t had a ribbon climbing video in a while. Steve, have you mastered the star drop?

16. 16 16 SY
    February 16, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    @12 You’re right. Half of those students were from the feminist club “Women’s Caucus”, and some others came from sororities in U of R.