A cost and benefit analysis of marriage If economics is the analysis of cost versus benefit, Spousonomics studies the costs and benefits of marriage with an eye to minimizing conflict. Using numerous case studies, the book examines common traps many couples fall into — such as engaging in tit for tat behavior (“If he didn’t take out the trash, I’m not going to give the kids a bath,”), not speaking your mind (“If she doesn’t know why I’m angry then she’s even denser than I thought”) or listening too much to “the herd” (“All of my friends stopped working after they had kids, so maybe I should too.”) After examining the various ways the couples in question went off the rails, the gently ironic narrators offer common sense suggestions on how not to take your relationship for granted.
One of the book’s weaknesses is that most problems focus on heterosexual couples with children, so an unintentional underlining tone of the book is “If you want to keep your marriage happy, don’t have children.” But even if you don’t fall into the nuclear family mold, the book will most likely contain a few helpful suggestions about how to keep relationships strong while reassuring listeners of all the things they’re already doing right.