Looking at Valentine’s Day in an Economic Way

Our Valentine’s economics can take us beyond money and spending.

Federal Reserve Valentines

The Minneapolis Fed told us that, “Love is warm, so is a cup of tea, but we need big banks, to hold lots more equity.” Meanwhile, the Atlanta Fed said, “Being with you hikes my pulse by several basis points.” But the Chicago Fed had the best response with, “To raise, or not to raise? That is the question.”

Valentine’s Graphs

In addition, as economists, we know that sometimes a graph says it all:

Valentine’s Cartoons

So too will marginal utility:

And we can’t ignore AI or game theory:

Mate Selection

And finally, we can see from Pew why we get married:

And why we stay single:

Our Bottom Line: Valentine’s Spending

And finally, we can return to money.

Projected at $199.78 per household, a hefty chunk of our Valentine’s Day spending total went to chocolates:

My sources and more: While our Valentine’s economics were originally inspired by Freaknomics and xkcd, the cleverest examples were from Liz Fosslien. Then, moving onward, facts from the National Retail Federation came in handy as did this past econlife, and  Pew Research.