Synopsis
Economist Steven Levitt is a popularizer in the best sense of that term, and his reality-based view of economics encompasses both how it touches our daily lives (though we may not always see it) and how it can help bring clarity to that messy world we live in. In FREAKONOMICS, written with journalist Stephen J. Dubner, Levitt casts his professorial eye on a range of topics and behaviors, phrasing questions in a way that will open up the topic. The chapter "What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers have In Common?" explores the issue of cheating as an incentive. He examines the economics of crime in a chapter entitled "Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?" Perhaps he is most controversial when, in another chapter, he connects a drop in the crime rate with a rise in abortions. Along the way, Levitt probes and challenges and delights with facts and figures as he takes us down some less-traveled pathways. He remains, however, true to his discipline, and says his approach "employs the best analytical tools that economics can offer." Reading FREAKONOMICS is like being in the classroom of one of those teachers who really make the subject come alive. You won't get a master's degree from this book but you will have a learning experience. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year for 2005.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2005-05-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 242 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 17.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
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 heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked 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 co-author Stephen J. 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 set out to 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 Ku Klux Klan. What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a surfeit of obfuscation, complication, 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. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter. 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.
Industry Reviews
"Levitt has compiled a greatest hits mix of his research....FREAKONOMICS is accessible to people who don't understand regression analysis, the procedure statisticians use to sort through data....He relishes studying us...."
Time (05/02/2005)
"[Levitt and Dubner's] clever juxtapositions, the way they constantly mine illuminating truths by contrasting seemingly unrelated topics, is what makes FREAKONOMICS a romp to read....FREAKONOMICS is a splendid book, full of unlikely but arresting historical details that distinguish the authors from the run of pop social scientists. Readers may even find themselves developing a dose of skepticism about the world--no bad thing."
New York Times - Roger Lowenstein (06/19/2005)
"Informative, provocative and relentlessly rational...."
Ruminator Review - Susannah McNeely
"What makes Levitt's work distinctive is that he does not rest content with theory. In many domains, he offers remarkably creative empirical tests for theoretical claims, and he shows where they stand or fall....There is no such thing as freakonomics. Nor is there anything remotely freaky about Levitt's approach....Levitt stands out not because of any large claims about human motivations, but because of his remarkable ingenuity, creativity, and sheer doggedness in investigating empirical questions about which no one seems to know much at all."
New Republic - Cass R. Sunstein (07/25/2005)
"This book should be read at a single sitting: it is written with great fluency and brio....At its best, it has the pace and the mock hard-boiled charm of a collection of Hammett or Chandler detective stories."
Times Literary Supplement - Paul Seabright (08/05/2005)
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