Why Do Economists Urge College, But Not Marriage?
College improves your earning prospects. So does marriage. Education makes you more likely to live longer. So does marriage. Yet while many economist vocally support initiatives to move more people into college, very few of them vocally favor initiatives to get more people married.
Megan McArdle offers this parsimonious explanation:
All economists are, definitionally, very good at college. Not all economists are good at marriage.