“In Freakonomics, Nobel Prize winning economist Steven D. Levitt demonstrates how the analytical tools used to measure economic performance can also be used to identify and interpret a wide variety of social and cultural trends. The key is knowing how to pose the right questions in order to extract meaningful and reliable information from a large body of statistical data. Levitt's genius is his ability to not only ferret out tell-tale patterns but to recognize what they mean. In this way, he is able to set conventional wisdom on its head by finding cause and effect relationships between seemingly unrelated phenomena. For example, one of his most controversial findings was that there was strong evidence linking the sharp drop in America's crime rate in the 1990's to a Supreme Court ruling two decades earlier which had, in effect, legalized abortion. According to Levitt's research, unwanted children statistically have a much greater tendancy to become criminals. It follows, therefore, that greater access to abortion would result in fewer prospective criminals being born each year. Yet, in spite of the fact that Levitt's research often involves such weighty social issues, the book is very accessible and contains many fascinating examples of how easily data can be misinterpreted and misused.”
Alan S wrote this review Thursday, November 5 2009.
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