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Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance [Hardcover]

Steven D. Levitt (Author), Stephen J. Dubner (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Allen Lane; First Edition 5th Printing edition (20 Oct 2009)
  • ISBN-10: 071399990X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0713999907
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 15 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 7,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
    #78 in  Books > Business, Finance & Law > Economics

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Steven D. Levitt
Steven D. Levitt
Stephen J. Dubner
Stephen J. Dubner

Product Description

Review

Like Freakonomics, but better . . . thrilling . . . you are guaranteed a good time . . . underneath the dazzle, there is substance too (Tim Harford, Financial Times )

Levitt is a master at drawing counter-intuitive conclusions . . . great fun . . . Superfreakonomics travels further than its predecessor (Tom Standage, Sunday Times )

A humdinger of a book: page-turning, politically incorrect and ever-so-slightly intoxicating, like a large swig of tequila (The Times )

One of the most important books you’ll read this autumn (GQ )

Levitt and Dubner’s zeal for statistical anomalies is as undimmed as their eye for a good story . . . lie back and let Levitt and Dubner’s bouncy prose style carry you along from one peculiarity to the next (Sunday Telegraph )

There’s material here not just for one conversation, but for several.The authors mash together interesting academic research, surprising historical comparisons . . . and cute factoids (Daily Mail )

[Freakonomics] was fascinating . . . [SuperFreakonomics] is similarly studded with intriguing examples of economic analysis in action (Daily Telegraph )

Entertaining (BBC Focus )

Product Description

Here at last is the long awaited sequel to the international bestselling phenomenon, Freakonomics. Steven Levitt, the original rogue economist, and Stephen Dubner have been working hard, uncovering the hidden side of even more controversial subjects, from charity to terrorism and prostitution. And with their inimitable style and wit, they will take us on another even more gripping journey of discovery. Superfreakonomics will once again transform the way we look at the world.
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Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
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Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt Hardcover 3.7 out of 5 stars (141)
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Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
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Customer Reviews

141 Reviews
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (141 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Light Entertainment. Enjoy the Read!, 21 Oct 2009
By Mr. William Oxley "oxenblocks" (Farnham, England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance (Hardcover)
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Read the book before you judge it. You may not agree with all the facts or conclusions, but it will make you think and debate the issues. The book is fascinating and 3 people reading it will give you three different opinions on it and about how good it is.

Should you read it - yes. Will you enjoy it - yes. Will you agree with everything - no.

Prostitution: The price of oral sex has fallen as it has become less taboo socially. Pimps value their prostitutes - which makes sense because I would expect a taxi driver to value his car because it is their means of making a living. And controversially prostitutes are more likely to have sex with a police officer than be arrested by one!

Global Warming: so controversial that people will down rate this book if it disagrees with their own accepted wisdom. The book contains hyperbole and overstatements that generates heated debate - (intended!) economic consequence of this is more press and more sales. But the authors do not deny global warming, rather they want to show how costly and difficult the current answers suggested by the big governments are, and they offer some potentially interesting solutions.

Read it in short bursts - it is not a Dan Brown novel!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars From Monkey Prostitution to Raising a Terrorist, 20 Oct 2009
By Boof (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance (Hardcover)
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I found this book interesting, frustrating, fascinating and infuriating (mostly at the same time). The duo that brought us Freakonomics with answers to why drug dealers live with their mothers and how the name that your parents gave you can determine which job you end up getting have now brought us Superfreakonomics.

To rogue economists or mad scientists this books meanderings may be make perfect sense, but to the likes of me I had a job trying to fathom how we got from one subject to another and then back to the original one at times. It almost seemed like a couple of kids that get so excited about their school project that they just want to tell you everything all about it all at once. That said, some of the themes and questions posed I found fascinating:

Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance?
Why is May the worst month for a baby in Uganda and Michigan, USA to be born?
How did 9/11 start the trickle down effect of the credit crunch?
Why could eating kangaroo meat help save the planet?
Why did 38 people watch Kitty Genovese be murdered and say nothing?

When I read Freakonomics a few years ago I gave it 2 stars. It attempted to tell us that teachers cheat, estate agents lie and black kids are usually given different names to white kids. You don't say! After having read this second offering I have decided to accept it for what it is - fun and light entertainment. Some of the findings are really fascinating and some are pretty banal and even confusing (the global warming section had my eyes glazing over).

However, to end on a positive note, the epilogue was genius! If you have ever wondered if monkey prostitution exists, wonder no more.....





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55 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars If it ain't broke..., 23 Oct 2009
By Quicksilver (UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance (Hardcover)
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'Superfreakonomics' is the cumbersomely titled sequel to the bestselling 'Freakonomics' - a book that gave an entertaining overview of microeconomics, and supplied plenty of food for thought. If you enjoyed the first volume, you will undoubtedly enjoy 'SuperFreakonomics'. It is essentially the same book, but with different case studies - if your first book sold over four million copies, why change a winning formula?

Initially I was unimpressed; the first chapter, dealing with prostitution felt like a rehash of the first book, only less interesting. Soon after, things pick up. The sections on emergency medicine and altruism were interesting and ask questions about the way in which we perceive our world. It is these alternate world views that are the 'Freakonomics' books strongest assets. Time and again the authors hold up a hand and say 'but what about...?'

Not everybody will be happy. The authors offer some thoughts on climate change, that go against current thinking, for which they will undoubtedly be pilloried. Of course challenging convention is the point of this book, and I'm sure the authors will welcome the debate. Less happy though, will be road-safety experts. 'Superfreakonomics' reveals that for the drinker, drink-driving is safer than drink-walking. (They do say that a taxi home is much better option still, but considering their findings on altruism, this seems a foolhardy admission.) The section on child safety seats will also cause great consternation, not least amongst child safety seat manufacturers.

Whilst casting doubt on the efficacy of child car seats, the book does ask a singular and important question. Since the primary users of rear seats are children, why aren't they designed with children in mind? Many of the topics covered in 'Superfreakonomics' are distilled down to simple and (with hindsight) obvious questions, and this is part of what makes it a pleasure to read. Another factor, is the lightness of tone, despite being a book about small details, it never becomes bogged down. I would though agree with another reviewer's comments, that the tone used can sometimes grate. It is very chummy and often self-congratulating.

'Superfreakonomics's' strength is also its biggest weakness. To avoid being, dull it only takes a cursory glance at its subject matter. One can't help but wonder what we aren't being told. The authors acknowledge that statistics are easy to fudge, but without doing masses of further reading, it is impossible to judge to what extent the figures have been massaged to back up their suppositions.

That said, the purpose of this book is to provoke debate and stop its readers from accepting everything at face value. I would suggest that this scepticism has to start with 'Superfreakonomics' itself - this is a book that will pose far more questions than it answers, but that is no bad thing. Like its predecessor, 'Superfreakonomics' is an entertaining and thought-provoking book, that deserves to be be read and discussed by as many people as possible.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Good read, but probably not as good as the original book, but still well worth a read whether you have read the original or not.
Published 15 days ago by Charlieo

4.0 out of 5 stars More of the same...but fine for it
Leavitt and Dubner's Freakonomics was one of the surprise popular hits of 2007, bring behavioural economics to a wider audience, who lapped up the mix of pop analysis and serious... Read more
Published 21 days ago by ds

5.0 out of 5 stars great numerical twists to everyday events
I really enjoyed the way the book turned everyday events into numerical measurements and applied economics to each situation. Read more
Published 21 days ago by zenadox

5.0 out of 5 stars Much wider coverage than you might think from the chapter titles
This is a worthy follow up book and I read this one from cover to cover also. The chapter headings highlight rather trivial points from the text and give a poor indication of the... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Matthew Leitch

5.0 out of 5 stars A superfreak buy
Who does sell better services for less money - pimp or realtor? (it seems that a pimp provides higher income and more security and takes lower margin than a realtor)... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Peter Hozák

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Quite Super, But Certainly Quite Interesting
I only did a year of economics at university, because I found it rather too mathematical. Levitt and Dubner, however, do a good job of applying the insights and assumption of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ben Saunders

2.0 out of 5 stars A Bit Disappointed Overall
I was looking forward to reading this as I really enjoyed the first book. However I did not enjoy this one very much. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mel

3.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing follow up
The 1st book was great. This is average and doesn't have the same engagement! Shame.
Published 1 month ago by B. Gray

4.0 out of 5 stars The Inevitable Sequel
This is around 20% shorter than the original, and although overall enjoyable, seems rushed and at times ill conceived. Read more
Published 1 month ago by JonnyD75

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the first one, but still well worth the read
It's hard to say exactly why I didn't like this book as much as the first, but it's probably because I didn't feel the subjects were covered in as much detail this time. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ewan MacKenzie

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