EconNerds: The Bombshell Theory that Explains Love Island
Econ Nerds is a digital media channel of the Mercatus Center, focused on illuminating the economics in the world around us through fun, contemporary media.
In this episode of Econ Nerds, economist Jadrian Wooten dives into the drama of coupling up, recoupling, and bombshells to reveal how it all connects to a famous puzzle in economics: the stable marriage problem. Economists David Gale and Lloyd Shapley created an algorithm in 1962 to find stable matches—where no two people would rather be with each other instead of their current partners. That same logic helps match medical residents to hospitals, judges to clerks, and kidney donors to recipients.
But while the theory offers stability, Love Island thrives on chaos. Producers keep the drama alive by adding new contestants, hiding information, and letting the audience vote on who stays or goes. The result? A masterclass in unstable matches—and great television.
NODEHAUS handled the post-production for this piece — from ingesting, editing, motion-graphics animation, sound and color.
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Client: EconNerds, Mercatus Center
Production Co: NODEHAUS
Writer & Host: Matt Hill
Producer, Editing Manager: Roman Hardgrave
Director: Tran Hoang Calvin
Editor: Triston Centretto
Graphics: Triston Centretto
