Love Don’t Cost a Thing – But a 1975 Study of Love Cost $424,000

In 1975, the National Science Foundation set out to find out why people fall in love.

Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, saw this wasteful and nonsensical spending as a perfect way to kick off what would be the first of a 168-award run of the Golden Fleece Awards over 14 years.

Proxmire gave his first award to the National Science Foundation for spending $84,000 on the study on love, or more than $424,000 in 2021 dollars.

He started what was to become "the most successful public relations device in politics today,” according to The Washington Post.

“I object to this not only because no one — not even the National Science Foundation — can argue that falling in love is a science; not only because I'm sure that even if they spend $84 million or $84 billion they wouldn't get an answer that anyone would believe,” Proxmire said at the time. “I'm also against it because I don't want the answer. I believe that 200 million other Americans want to leave some things in life a mystery, and right on top of the things we don't want to know is why a man falls in love with a woman and vice versa.”

While that was the first Golden Fleece award given monthly to public officials for squandering the public’s money, he continued the tongue-in-cheek awards until 1988, announcing the winners in press releases.

While we do not know if the National Science Foundation ever got its answer, it is safe to say Proxmire did not love the wasteful expenditure.

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.