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Tuesday, June 28, 2005

food for thought

why prostitutes make more money than architects
excerpt from "freakonomics" by steven levitt & stephen dubner

"...when there are a lot of people willing and able to do a job, that job generally doesn't pay well. this is one of four meaningful factors that determine a wage. the others are the specialized skills a job requires, the unpleasantness of a job, and the demand for services that the job fulfills.

"the delicate balance between these factors helps explain why, for instance, the typical prostitute earns more than the typical architect. it may not seem as though she should. the architect would appear to be more skilled (as the word is usually defined) and better educated (again, as usually defined). but little girls don't grow up dreaming of becoming prostitutes, so the supply of potential prostitutes is relatively small. their skills, while not necessarily "specialized," are practiced in a very specialized context. the job is unpleasant and forbidding in at least two significant ways: the likelihood of violence and the lost opportunity of having a stable family life. as for demand? let's just say that an architect is more likely to hire a prostitute than vice versa."

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's in the Western context. Western prostitutes earn more than Western architects.

But in the Third world, architects earn more than prostitutes.

So if you, an architect, are contemplating being a hoe, do it in the First World, not in the Philippines for chrissake.

Thursday, June 30, 2005 10:44:00 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's all about your "target market" High class ho's make a killing with expats here who have money to burn.

My point is: prostitution will unfortunately still be big business as long as there are lonely guys in this world. hehe

-captain obvious

Thursday, June 30, 2005 4:44:00 pm  

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