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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](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Z1scnqz1L._SL500_.jpg)
| Authors: Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $13.49
You Save: $16.46 (55%)
Rating:  1586 reviews
Sales Rank: 148
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Revised & Expand, Roughcut
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0061234001
Dewey Decimal Number: 330
EAN: 9780061234002
ASIN: 0061234001
Publication Date: October 2, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
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
Product Description
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: Read 1581 more reviews...
Surprisingly interesting December 22, 2008
John L. Lewis (Chicago, IL USA)
I have a new appreciation for the hidden side of economics! It read so quickly. Who knew economics could be a fun read!
 Open your eyes to a whole new world! December 12, 2008
Melissa R. Swartz
Levitt and Dubner really challenge conventional wisdom.It will open your eyes to how easily people just except things as fact without ever questioning the data behind them. Its a read that you really will not want to put down and definately a must read for anyone in the field of psychology, social work, or medicine.
Lessons in lateral thinking December 6, 2008
Karen Chung (Taipei, Taiwan)
This book contains a bit more hype than some readers may be comfortable with, but it is worth reading for the lessons to be gained in lateral thinking, pulling together ideas and interconnections that are not immediately obvious.
I found the final chapter on name choice relatively weak, but the ones on abortion and crime, and the corporate structure of crack dealers, were food for thought. And I have seen for myself an example of a real estate agent trying to coerce a client into selling a home at below market value - here in Taiwan the same thing happens - and I think Levitt's logic on why this happens is sound.
The additional material at the end of the book, i.e. newspaper columns and blog entries, included some corrections, e.g. on doubts surrounding Stetson Kennedy's exposes of the Ku Klux Klan. It is here also that the reader learns that Levitt and his wife lost their first child when he was just a year old, and that somehow put the author in a new perspective for me; it also explains where he got the idea to compare the risks of gun ownership to having a home swimming pool. (He and his wife attended a support group for parents who had lost a child and learned there that many children die by drowning in a swimming pool.)
Elsewhere, the author gets his revenge on a restaurant that served him badly spoiled chicken and then compensated him only by not charging for two glasses of wine: he reveals the eatery's name and location - bringing out another, very human, aspect of the author's personality. You also learn that he likes to gamble - maybe not so surprising in someone so interested in interpreting statistics. I enjoyed the author's - very positive - description of a lecture visit to the Google headquarters. And as a teacher, his reminiscences of his student days and classroom behavior - "sleeping through about 90%" of his classes - gave me pause.
All in all, this book is an easy and worthwhile read. And knowing what's in it will put you a bit more in touch with popular reading culture.
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