Does anyone ever wonder why bikinis in Brazil are so small? The only people who would think about it would be us Economists, I guess.
The reason that the bikinis are so small is possibly because for every 100 females there are about 84.6 males in the city of Rio de Janeiro. That is what a recent and very interesting article in The Economist guesses.
It goes on to explain that Brazil like many modernized countries have seen a drop in the birth rates, even though the country is largely Catholic.
The article states that 40% of women from ages 15-49 have been sterilized.
More from the article:
"As a result of the fertility rate dropped from 6.2 live births per woman in 1960 to around two today, while people are living longer."
They have also found that many women have moved away from the rural areas and have moved in citizens to move in the service sector. Another weird statistic is that the murder rate there is high and mostly of young males.
Most Economists would believe that men prefer smaller bikinis, therefore for women to draw the potential mates towards them have adapted to that view.
Definitely an interesting topic to study under the "Economics of Dating," that I want to do more of.
I would say this is right on the money.
I would also say that the warm weather, alluring beaches and fun attitude of the Brazilians are even more important to the analysis, however. They are not so uptight as Americans.
I wish Americans were more like Brazlians.
I completely agree that it is a forward-thinking movement to limit the population. I see fat Americans at the beach everyday (gross in bikinis) with more kids than they can afford. This is bringing down the overall quality of life in the U.S. and making us all look like trash. Stop having babies!