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Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything [Paperback]

Steven D. Levitt (Author), Stephen J. Dubner (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (267 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 18 Jun 2007 | ISBN-10: 0141019018 | ISBN-13: 978-0141019017 | Edition: 1

Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner's Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything is the cult bestseller that will show you a totally new way of seeing the world.

  • What do estate agents and the Ku Klux Klan have in common?
  • Why do drug dealers live with their mothers?
  • What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?
  • How can your name affect how well you do in life?

The answer: Freakonomics. It's at the heart of everything we do and the things that affect us daily, from sex to crime, parenting to politics, fat to cheating, fear to traffic jams. And it's all about using information about the world around us to get to the heart of what's really happening under the surface of everyday life.

Now updated with the authors' New York Times columns and blog entries!

'A phenomenon'
  Observer

'Non-stop fun'
  Evening Standard

'Brilliant ... you'll be stimulated, provoked and entertained. Of how many books can that be said?'
  Sunday Telegraph

Steven Levitt, the man with 'the most interesting mind in America' (Malcolm Gladwell), is the rogue economist whose controversial ideas have caused a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic. In Freakonomics he joins forces with Stephen Dubner, New York Times and New Yorker journalist and bestselling author of Turbulent Souls and Confessions of a Hero Worshipper, to create a gripping, revolutionary new take on the world.

Frequently Bought Together

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything + Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance + The Undercover Economist
Price For All Three: £19.87

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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; 1 edition (18 Jun 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0141019018
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141019017
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.9 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (267 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Authors

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Stephen J. Dubner
Steven D. Levitt

Product Description

Review

‘A phenomenon … their approach has won the book a cult following’ -- Observer

‘A sensation … you’ll be stimulated, provoked and entertained. Of how many books can that be said?’ -- Sunday Telegraph

‘Freakonomics reads like a detective novel … has you chuckling one minute and gasping in amazement the next’ -- Wall Street Journal

‘The book is a delight; it educates, surprises and amuses … dazzling’ -- Economist

‘Total controversy … Levitt has shocked the world’ -- Sunday Express --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Steven Levitt, the man with 'the most interesting mind in America' (Malcolm Gladwell), is the rogue economist whose controversial ideas have caused a sensation on both sidea of the Atlantic. In Freakonomics he joins forces with Stephen Dubner, New York Times and New Yorker journalist and bestselling author of Turbulent Souls and Confessions of a Hero Worshiper, to create a gripping, revolutionary new take on the world.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 61 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and fun, but ultimately light on content 25 April 2007
By A. K. Johnston VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This book does two important things - it challenges the reader to really think about the causes of things, and it makes modern economic thinking interesting and accessible to the mass audience. It's also a good, fun read, and for all these reasons it should be applauded.

In this book Steven Levitt develops ideas about a number of aspects of economic and social development which challenge received wisdom. He then both challenges traditional analyses, and offers solid support for his theories using detailed analysis of a number of unusual but highly reliable data sources.

For example, he attributes the dramatic fall of crime rates in the USA in the 1990s to greater access to abortion 20 years earlier, rather than traditional explanations like better policing. Drawing on a number of unimpeachable data sources he provides strong support for his hypothesis over more common ones.

Another fascinating chapter analyses the economics of drug dealing, and concludes that most crack dealers would be better off with regular minimum-wage jobs.

However, these are the high points, and towards the end the book starts to feel like the authors didn't have enough material for a 200 page book. There's a fair amount of repetition, and the later chapters start to feel a bit light. The last chapter, on trends in children's names, is really rather boring and tells us very little of interest.

This is a shame, because the core of the book is excellent. It will hold your interest, but don't expect a lot of pages for your money. Maybe the authors are genuinely very clever.
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38 of 40 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but a bit light 11 April 2006
By A. Somerville
Format:Paperback
As mentioned at several points, this book is an expansion of a newspaper article that the authors wrote together. It is a very interesting gallop through new and sometimes extraordinary research by both the author and other new economists. The work on drug gangs is particularly good.

However, the book is quite short and the style of writing is US magazine-lite. As a bright introduction to some of the more surprising uses of economics and statistics, it's a very good, quick read but it's all over very quickly.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Buy the expanded edition 5 Jan 2009
By Steve M
Format:Paperback
This book first arrived in a blizzard of publicity back in 2005. Now 4 years on, it has been re-released in a revised and expanded edition with an extra 90 pages of bonus material (be sure to order the 336-page edition) consisting of newspaper columns and blog entries, along with a few corrections and an overall restructuring (the previous introductory magazine excerpts to each chapter have now been consolidated into a single article and moved to the back of the book).

I found Freakonomics to be an engaging and entertaining read, albeit a fairly light one. It doesn't set out to teach or champion any particular theory or methodology; it simply takes a handful of diverse real life scenarios - parenting, the Ku Klux Klan, crack dealers, cheating school teachers, Sumo wrestlers, etc - and examines them through the lens of incentives and rewards.

This is another one of those books that shines a light on the shortcomings of human intuition and the oft-exaggerated merits of 'common sense' (in particular, the sections on how to increase voter turnout, and how to discourage late arrivals, are intriguing).

Freakonomics probably doesn't quite live up to its hype as "a phenomenon", but it remains thought-provoking and fun nonetheless. Also important to its success: it is very easy to follow. No prior knowledge of (or even interest in) economics is required.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Economics made fun
I really enjoyed it, as it gives some novel and different ways at looking at a wide range of issues. It runs out of steam a bit towards the end, but I'd definitely recommend it.
Published 22 hours ago by Groove Merchant
4.0 out of 5 stars Stats rule ok
Freakonomics was occasionally a bit too much like hard work for me and in some cases the maths/logic applied was a little too convenient, skating over factors that shouldn't have... Read more
Published 1 day ago by MSP
4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it so much I paid real money for it!
Not exactly an economics textbook, but probably the bestselling economics textbook ever. Written by an economist and a journalist, they address questions like Why are teachers... Read more
Published 12 days ago by jacw2000
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book!
Interesting book with lots of different view points about day-to-day stuff! A good read! Well recommended! I need to type 4 more words... there!
Published 18 days ago by Fitter
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read with great stories
I loved this book especially the way they made interesting stories out of using mathematics and statistics to find fascinating conclusions. Read more
Published 21 days ago by riley36
3.0 out of 5 stars Applaud the aims but the analysis is rather sloppy
As someone who is regularly frustrated by (a) politicians' inability to understand statistics and therefore to misuse them and (b)journalists' inability to pose meaningful... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Euclidean Norm
5.0 out of 5 stars And so it twists
Definitely one of my favorite non-fiction book. The authors present a sequence of facts that definitely makes one think. Have a go and I'm sure you won't regret.
Published 1 month ago by D. Quelhas
4.0 out of 5 stars freakonomics
Very interesting, very readable, looks at information in a different way. does not take facts at face value digs deep to find the truth.
Published 1 month ago by sheila morgan
5.0 out of 5 stars I recommend it!
I enjoyed reading the book!!very good,funny and give you a lot f information you never thought !!!it is a must have
Published 1 month ago by Ettoch
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book
I really enjoyed this book and read it cover to cover.
There are some amazing insights into all sorts of things.
Published 2 months ago by Carl French
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