The problem Dalrock is outlining is a severe breakdown of trust. The reason folks might choose not to marry is not because they would be getting a bad deal if they did (if that was the issue, the incentives would simply adjust in some way), but because they have no way of trusting the deal they are going to get. In the absence of a way of re-establishing this kind of trust (and AIUI, commonly proposed solutions, say pre-nup agreements, are highly imperfect), there is no hope of avoiding a comparatively very bad outcome.
It’s basically the same reason why societies with undeveloped or untrusted legal systems always have terrible economies: there’s no way of trusting the contracts you get into, hence no basis for real development.
The problem Dalrock is outlining is a severe breakdown of trust. The reason folks might choose not to marry is not because they would be getting a bad deal if they did (if that was the issue, the incentives would simply adjust in some way), but because they have no way of trusting the deal they are going to get. In the absence of a way of re-establishing this kind of trust (and AIUI, commonly proposed solutions, say pre-nup agreements, are highly imperfect), there is no hope of avoiding a comparatively very bad outcome.
It’s basically the same reason why societies with undeveloped or untrusted legal systems always have terrible economies: there’s no way of trusting the contracts you get into, hence no basis for real development.
Yes. This is exactly why I remain a bachelor with a girlfriend of a decade that I love dearly.