So ... Coase Theorem explains how I became lonely? :)

Greg Mankiw, whose blog is where I came across this Dilbert toon, notes that this is "Coase Theorem in Action." ... A few weeks ago, I would have used this cartoon in my urban planning class!

Come to think of it, visiting friends is relatively inexpensive compared to the scale in which weddings are celebrated in India.  Even as a kid, I thought that they were wasteful spending, and I think so even now.  As a high schooler, I once suggested as a serious argument that when invitations go out to friends and relatives who lived far away, well, we could add a note that they could choose not to attend the wedding, and instead "money order" the bride's parents half the amount that they otherwise would have spent attending the wedding.  Yes, the same Dilbert cartoon idea. 

But, there are instances where weddings and costs are approached rationally.  Even in India.