Manhood used to be about serious things: in the 19th century, real men were scholars and explorers and incipient scientists. In the 20th century, real men were engineers; they did things with their hands, and knew how things worked. In the 21st century, men stopped making things completely, since the jobs they used to do were all given to 9-year old boys in Bangladesh. Men today don’t make things at all. They just consume. And let’s face it – men make pretty laughable consumers, always buying ridiculous things like Diamante earrings and T-Shirts embossed with glittery writing. So what does manhood mean today? Manhood has been reduced to the only thing that men can still make which 9-year olds in Bangladesh can’t. Sex.

Like the market for jobs, the market for sex has been globalised. This is why all my friends back home seem to now have Polish girlfriends. This is why the International Organisation for Migration estimates that 90% of the prostitutes working in Soho are from Eastern Europe. This is why cities like Arad are full of strip clubs and Italians with nice cars. Poor girls, whether they’re from Thailand or Moldova, need money and security. And rich westerners want pretty young girls who don’t resemble the Michelin Man thanks to a diet entirely consisting of high-sugar, high-fat convenience food. The forces acting on the 9-year old in Bangladesh are exactly the same as those acting on poor old Ionana, working in a bedsit in Soho. It’s what Adam Smith would have called The Invisible Hand of the Market. Clever, eh?

The Invisible Hand has just been given a helping hand – from the end of this month, men from London will be able to visit Bucharest for less than the cost of a taxi to the airport. Thanks to a certain budget airline, the streets of Bucharest could soon be thronged with gangs of drunken Brits looking for strong girls and beautiful alcohol (hold on… should that be the other way around?). So, next time you see a gang of Brits vomiting onto their shoes in Piata Amzei and trying to pick up hookers for the cost of a pint in London, just remember: this is what modern Manhood looks like. I blame Adam Smith.