Modern life can be baffling and chaotic. Is there any way of making sense of it? The answer, explains groundbreaking thinker Steven Levitt, lies in economics. Not ordinary economics, but freakonomics. It is at the heart of everything we see and do and the subjects that bedevil us daily: from parenting to crime, sport to politics, fat to cheating, fear to traffic jams. In Freakonomics Levitt turns conventional economics on its head, stripping away the jargon and calculations of the experts' to explore the riddles of everyday life and examine topics such as: how chips are more likely to kill you than murder or a terrorist attack; why sportsmen cheat and how fraud can be spotted; why violent crime can be linked not to gun laws, policing or poverty, but to abortion; why a road is more efficient when everyone travels at 20mph; how the name you give your child can give them an advantage in later life; and what really causes obesity epidemics. Ultimately, he shows us that economics is all about how people get what they want, and what makes them do it. Asking provocative and profound questions about human motivation and contemporary living and reaching some astonishing conclusions, Freakonomics will make you see the familiar world through a completely original lens.
Freakonomics
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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
‘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
About the Author
Steven Levitt is a tenured professor in the University of Chicago's Economics Department and editor of The Journal of Political Economy. This will be his first book. Stephen J. Dubner is the best-selling author of Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son's Return to His Jewish Family and, most recently, of Confessions of a Hero Worshiper
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 61 people found the following review helpful
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.
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.
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
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.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
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.
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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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 6 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 13 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 15 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 29 days 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.
There are some amazing insights into all sorts of things.
Published 2 months ago by Carl French
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking and fun!
I read this having read and enjoyed Supercrunchers, perhaps the unusual way round to read the two books but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of this one. Read more
Published 2 months ago by TimG
2.0 out of 5 stars
Don't waste your time reading this
This was a book chosen for our readers' group, and I wouldn't have finished it were it not to be discussed. It reminded me of the American self help books I read years ago. Read more
Published 2 months ago by GAJ
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