Economists sometimes seem to be incurable anti-romantics. Consider James Miller’s treatment of Valentine’s Day as a signalling game.

Even a woman who hates flowers would be rational in getting mad at her boyfriend for not buying her flowers on Valentine’s Day, because by not wasting resources on her the boyfriend has signaled his disinterest.

For Discussion. What do you think of the notion that a proclamation of love is inherently not credible unless reinforced by “wasting resources”?