marco, you have made a lot of interesting comments here but have you considered making a comment or two at another diary {Male bias in macro-economics???} of similar concepts discussed?

I agree with your sentiment, but I have to point out that when you state:

I think another point is that women are generally far better at looking after the welfare of families then men are:

The message supports the sexual divisions of labor in the household and then by default divisions of labor in the market. While it is empirically as well as anecdotaly correct, it still supports the "reproductive role of women" in the household under the auspices of New Household Economics. This in turn leaves women in the triple role in the family that may not always be the best for the family/household unit or for women themselves of the "reproductive role", "productive role" and "community managing role" {as described by Moser, 1993}.

Rutherfordian ------------------------------ RDRutherford