Michael Scott Wishes They Would've Invented This Sooner

Cowen discusses the discovery of an oral contraceptive for men. He thinks there's some kind of signaling potential in this thing. But I'm dubious. How do you signal you've taken the male pill? I suspect in marriages or cohabitation, where monitoring costs are lower, then yeah, I could see this being enforced. But in mating markets, I doubt anyone can credibly signal they're on the pill. Women take the pill not to protect the men, but to protect themselves because they incur most of the costs of an unintended pregnancy. I suspect that Cowen's signalling story is really just cheap talk. That said, as always, I suspect that if we can reduce the risks of pregnancy, either through lowering the costs of abortion or by making it technically possible to have sex at lower risk of pregnancy, then we'll see more sex in equilibrium, and probably more sexually transmitted diseases. That's just another way or saying birth control technology not only reduces births but also has the unintended effect of increasing sexual activity among the treated.