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Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
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Author(s): Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
Publisher: William Morrow
Hardcover: 336 pages
Language(s): English
ISBN: 0061234001
Published On: 2006-10-02
Studio: William Morrow
Product Description
Economics is not widely considered to be one of the sexier sciences. The annual Nobel Prize winner in that field never receives as much publicity as his or her compatriots in peace, literature, or physics. But if such slights are based on the notion that economics is dull, or that economists are concerned only with finance itself, Steven D. Levitt will change some minds. In Freakonomics (written with Stephen J. Dubner), Levitt argues that many apparent mysteries of everyday life don't need to be so mysterious: they could be illuminated and made even more fascinating by asking the right questions and drawing connections. For example, Levitt traces the drop in violent crime rates to a drop in violent criminals and, digging further, to the Roe v. Wade decision that preempted the existence of some people who would be born to poverty and hardship. Elsewhere, by analyzing data gathered from inner-city Chicago drug-dealing gangs, Levitt outlines a corporate structure much like McDonald's, where the top bosses make great money while scores of underlings make something below minimum wage. And in a section that may alarm or relieve worried parents, Levitt argues that parenting methods don't really matter much and that a backyard swimming pool is much more dangerous than a gun. These enlightening chapters are separated by effusive passages from Dubner's 2003 profile of Levitt in The New York Times Magazine, which led to the book being written. In a book filled with bold logic, such back-patting veers Freakonomics, however briefly, away from what Levitt actually has to say. Although maybe there's a good economic reason for that too, and we're just not getting it yet. --John Moe

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime?

These may not sound like typical questions for an econo-mist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life”from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing”and whose conclusions turn conventional wisdom on its head.

Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives”how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of . . . well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Klu Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and”if the right questions are asked”is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking.

Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.

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Customer Reviews
"Rather shallow for a book about depth"
Written By: PritheeHoratio
Quite disappointing. Not enough substance to sit on my shelf. There are only a handful of relationships explored: the 90's US crime dip, parenting effects on children's school performance, teacher cheating on standardized tests and a few more anectotes. My main complaint is that the authors fall victim to the same mistakes they criticize. Also I fail to see much connection with economics in any of it. Most importantly: ABSENCE OF PROOF IS NOT PROOF OF ABSENCE! Just because your study does not show a correlation does not mean no relationship exists. The authors unfortunately seem to fall for this time and again. Social study data should be interpreted with caution already. More scrutiny would benefit the book. Also, despite a disclaimer in the beginning re. the absence of a common theme, the final product is simply to scatterbrained. It reads like a collection of anecdotes where the author happened to stumble across interesting subtext, blown into a book. Not enough substance to sit on my shelf.
"Challenging Conventional Wisdom"
Written By: Adrian Kok
Just returned from a trip, and finished one of the more interesting books on economics. The authors of Freakonomics disclaim any unifying theme to their book, and the title isn't much help either, but here's how I'd summarize it.

The book looks at various social trends such as the large drop in crime rate in the US from the 1980's to 2000, causes for child success and reexamines some of the causes for these events. It shows that how some commonly-held views are not backed by analytical or statistical data and that better insight may be gleaned from understanding the incentives behind the behaviour or trend.

The man behind these ideas is Steven Levitt, who digs up all kinds of surprising and fascinating truths that makes this such an interesting book. His insight is backed with well-documented end notes and well so because some of his conclusions are quite unconventional (especially around the link between legalized abortion and crime rates).

The book weighs in at only 200 pages and is well worth the time.
"Great Book!!!"
Written By: S. Scott
Loved this book! Very insightful, easy to read. First heard of the book on the TV show Boston Legal and thought the reference was interesting so I went online and bought it. Bought one for my 24 year old son who also loved it.
"good book"
Written By: Aaron Gottlieb
i bought this book as a holiday gift for my brother, but he said it was really good - hence the 4 stars.
"Pretty good"
Written By: David Blanton
Freakonomics' strongest asset is its blunt force mauling of conventional wisdom and the often unveering faith that journalists, experts and ordinary folks pay it, often only to serve (sadly) their own interests. When that is the authors' approach they deliver sound arguments. That, thankfully, is the core premise of the book.

While it is too piecemeal, and cute, to be called boring, the breathless exploration of the economist's actual findings at times borders on the mundane. Much of his intesive number-crunching about teacher cheating, Sumo wrestling and (especially!) baby names and various parenting fallacies can only be considered redundant to the observant reader.

People like me (who aren't economists and who aren't familiar with the calculus of demographics and sociology) should read this book mainly because it's fairly fresh, witty and is a good example of hunting up the truth while ignoring distracting conventions, moral or otherwise.
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