Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
 

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

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? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much... (read more)

Top tags: economicsnon-fictionnonfictionsociologybusiness (all tags)

 

Member Reviews

  • aragon14
    2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    The book is good for light reading especially if you want to take a break from serious reading and are interested in mundane facts that make life peculiar. It has an economic tingle to logically point on hilarious assertions by the authors.

    aragon14 wrote this review Monday, September 3 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • jmadigan
    2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    This book is kind of hard to explain. It's nonfiction for sure, as the authors use economics to explore and explain everyday problems like crime, cheating on standardized testing, and getting parents to pick their kids up from daycare. Though it has a few themes that keep popping up over and over, it really lacks any kind of narrative thread, the way Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" does, but Freakonomics is much more likely to give you something interesting to say at your next dinner party (or whatever). It's just chock full of things that make you go "Huh... Never thought of that, but it makes sense."

    My favorite part of the book, for example, was the chapter on the optimistic new graduate student who was sent into housing projects by his Econ professor to interview destitute Black people about how they feel about being destitute Black people. Within minutes of wandering around an area that probably looked like a sound stage for Escape From New York, the grad student stumbles into a group of teenage gang members, several of which just want to shoot him. He lamely (and absurdly) tries to get them to take his survey until the gang's local leader shows up, befriends (in a way) the young graduate student, and eventually teaches him how the drug-selling gang's org chart looks almost exactly like that of a McDonald's franchise.

    Some of what Freakonomics has to say is a jagged little pill to swallow. One of the authors, for example, is infamous for demonstrating how legalizing abortion led to a nationwide reduction in violent crime (not including, of course, violence against fetuses; that went up). And then there's the chapters on what about a parent does and doesn't matter in terms of their childrens' future success. The authors, though, remain surprisingly objective through all the rough spots, and they even manage to view issues from various perspectives when needed.

    So this is easily a great book. Chances are you'll find five or more things that surprise you just inside the first hundred pages. I know I did.

    jmadigan wrote this review Tuesday, July 17 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • mrjerz
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    Outstanding. Any book that is based on the premise that conventional wisdom is generally wrong starts off very well with me. The use of economics to distill certain "truths" down into entirely re-thought principles and ideas is innovative and, to be sure, brilliant. I can see the more traditional economics professors hating the influx of Freakonomics disciples at departments nationwide.

    The chapter that most resonated with me was the one about real estate agents and the KKK. On the surface, and certainly among some people, the idea that the two are similar is offensive. But as you will see in reading the book, there is something in common among them and perhaps that offensive connection is what actually makes you understand that we're not dealing with the surface here. The result is the removal of emotion from the critical thinking that goes into the ideas presented in the book, and a return to actual thought. It sure seems simple, but if you take a good look around, we're devoid of that type of thinking. Like I said, outstanding.

    mrjerz wrote this review Wednesday, January 23 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Basilia Howard Books
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    Light, amusing reading which you can take with you anywhere. Just imagine the piles of data Steven Levitt buried himself into just so he could pop out and be this fun and savvy economist who'd gladly share with the readers a coherent interpretation and analysis of life's simple questions we normally wouldn't thought of as having trivial repercussions (like how abortion reduced crime rate and the truth on the financial make-up of drug dealers and why they still "live with their moms"). One of the topics that intrigued me is the subject on correlation in the chapter- What Makes A Perfect Parent. It made me rethink of why parents become a little obsessed in disciplining their children for the wrong reasons, although in many instances, I doubt if Levitt's point to this matter holds genuinely true. But I guess, that push to make us inquisitive about everything is precisely the point of this book. And, Levitt's way of approaching them is to back it up by factual research and logical observation. So whether or not you choose to be "Freakonimic" (i like the catchiness of this term), you'd be tempted to behave like one.

    Basilia Howard Books wrote this review Sunday, February 10 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • riser
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 3 stars

    A fun read, but not life changing. Levitt points out that a lot more of the crazy things that happen in life occur due to incentives. Using a variety of persuasive statistical studies, he reveals the importance incentives play in everyday non-traditionally economic scenarios. He uses a variety of examples showing that much of what average people call “conventional wisdom” is formed purely by what is convenient or desirable for the masses to believe. [br/][br/]In conclusion of his book, Levitt stresses that his book is simply about asking questions and the purpose of the book is merely to make people think and question some of the “conventional wisdoms” which are held so dear. He definately succeeds in his purpose... However, the best part of this book is definately the sweet cover!

    riser wrote this review Wednesday, September 19 2007. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink )
  • Lindsay  K
    1 of 2 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 4 stars

    Thought provoking, quick read

    Lindsay K wrote this review Friday, December 21 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • John K
    • Rated 3 stars

    An entertaining read, but I wonder about some of his correlations. No time to go and check all of his research, but he seems to be taking some fairly controversial stands just for the sake of being shocking (and therefore to sell more books). Bet an office next to his would be a trip though.

    John K wrote this review yesterday. ( reply | permalink )
  • Ashima G
    • Rated 5 stars

    Fantastic! Entertaining, knowledgable, makes you think in a different way while telling interesting stories!

    Ashima G wrote this review 3 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • Peter Yeates Fulton
    • Rated 0 stars


    Dear Mr. Reader,

    I have recently finished reading Freakonomics, a book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, two economists who look at the society in a unique way. The book covers many subjects, from the Ku Klux Klan to the effects a name has on a person’s life. In each chapter, a subject is discussed, but many unknown aspects are revealed.
    For example, in the chapter “Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?” that simple question is answered in depth, providing the reader with several interesting pieces of information. Although drug dealing may seem like a very lucrative career, it is not. “So the answer to the original question- if drug dealers make so much money, why are they still living with their mothers?- is that, except for the top cats, they don’t make much money”(103). The author talks about how there is a large hierarchy in gangs, and how the vast majorities make fewer than four dollars an hour selling drugs.
    Throughout the book, statistics are used to reinforce the ideas of the authors, and I thoroughly enjoyed the in analysis that the authors provided. In addition, the style of writing is very easy to follow, with smooth transitions between chapters. When reading the book, I feel as if the author is speaking to me, and I become very interested in the subjects. If I could ask the authors any questions, I would ask them why the chose to write this book, and if it was difficult to compile all the research that they provided in their book.

    Sincerely,
    Peter Fulton

    Peter Yeates Fulton wrote this review 9 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
Displaying 1-10 of 547 reviews
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