Econlinks for 27-12-’07

  • “Morality matters for economic performance”: A very interesting summary of recent research plus the agenda for further research in the context, by Guido Tabellini, on voxeu.org. Tabellini already presented (part of) this in the 2007 EEA-ESEM conference from Budapest (more precisely, as the EEA Presidential Address, from the 30th of August), for those of you who have also been attending.

  • Markets in everything, one more exotic episode from Tyler Cowen’s book, “Discover your inner economist” (read here the previous one). Today about the ‘business of renting wedding guests’:

A report from India tells of a firm that rents out wedding guests, so that the wedding and the party do not look empty. The “guests” will wear either traditional Indian dress or Western clothes, depending on what the customer dictates. They are told to dance and make small talk, and show a knowledge of the marrying couple,without letting on that they are hired. The firm’s owner, a Mr. Syed, told one newspaper: “The breaking up of joint families and lack of affection among relatives also creates a demand for paid guests”. The Best Guests Centre, at Jodhpur in Rajasthan, is looking to expand. To each his own: I would pay some people to stay away from my wedding.

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