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What love and marriage taught us about market design : Planet Money They say true love is hard to find. Whoever says that isn't an economist. | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.

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The Marriage Pact

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Alex Mayyasi

The Marriage Pact

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Alden and Kyra found each other through the power of economics Cayenn Landau/Kyra Dorado Teigen and Alden O'Rafferty hide caption

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Cayenn Landau/Kyra Dorado Teigen and Alden O'Rafferty

Alden and Kyra found each other through the power of economics

Cayenn Landau/Kyra Dorado Teigen and Alden O'Rafferty

When Alden O'Rafferty and Kyra Dorado Teigen signed up for a "marriage pact" in college, they instantly fell for each other. What they didn't know was that the questionnaire that matched them up was based on decades of economic research. You can't put a price tag on love, but dating and marriage is still a market, and economists have been thinking about how to play matchmaker more efficiently since 1962.

It all goes back to a famous thought experiment: Imagine an island with six people who all want to get married. To each other.

Music: "Friends," "From Dust to Dub," and "Losing My Head Over You."

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