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

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

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.

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

So many people I talked to before reading the book made it seem like it was the most interesting thing they've read in years, but I found it to be little more than a bunch of interesting long form newspaper articles. I had a hard time giving this book 3 stars, because I think it is so incredibly overrated.

The the hard work done by Prof.Levitt clearly demonstrates my hypothesis with empirical evidence that sometimes what is clearly evident even with hard core statistical data may not really be the source or core of the issue at hand.Goes to reinforce the growing yet still a tiny minority of folks who promote the notion that we have to get away from finding quick and immediate fixes for various issues, but invest some time and effort to create a holistic approach to tackle pressing systemic issues Excellently written.Goes a long way in validating "my" hypothesis that things are not what they seem despite what the initial facts may say.

I highly recommend this to anyone with an open mind. I don't necessarily agree with all or any of what is written, but it made me think. I am a statistician at work and it was really intriguing to see how the numbers are presented in this book.

The writing is very entertaining and educational at the same time without the boring complex charts, graphs and other things you might need a degree in economics to understand. Levitt takes odd ball topics and explores and writes about them in ways that might make you look at that area from new perspective. I have been reading books by economists for years. Steven Levitt by far is the most unconventional outside the box thinker I have ever read.

Not everything in here is 100% convincing, but I highly recommend reading it, especially with a critical mind. Lots of fascinating ideas in the book.