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Levitt:Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Paperback – Import, 18 Jun. 2007

by Steven D. Levitt (Author), Stephen J. Dubner (Author)

3,738 ratings

#1 Best Seller in Academic Sociology

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Assume nothing, question everything.

This is the message at the heart of Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner's rule-breaking, iconoclastic book about crack dealers, cheating teachers and bizarre baby names that turned everyone's view of the world upside-down and became an international multi-million-copy-selling phenomenon.

'Prepare to be dazzled' Malcolm Gladwell

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

'Has you chuckling one minute and gasping in amazement the next' Wall Street Journal

'Dazzling ... a delight' Economist

'Made me laugh out loud' Scotland on Sunday

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frekonomics, gladwell, economics, bestseller

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About the Author

Steven D. Levitt (Author)
Steven D. Levitt, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, was awarded the John Bates Clark medal, given to the most influential American economist under the age of forty. He is also a founder of The Greatest Good, which applies Freakonomics-style thinking to business and philanthropy.

Stephen J. Dubner (Author)
Stephen J. Dubner is an award-winning author, journalist, and radio and TV personality. He quit his first career - as an almost-rock-star - to become a writer. He has worked for The New York Times and published three non-Freakonomics books. He lives with his family in New York City.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0141019018
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin
Publication date ‏ : ‎ 18 Jun. 2007
Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780141019017
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141019017
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 248 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.8 x 2 x 14.8 cm
Best Sellers Rank: 2,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1 in Academic Sociology
- 13 in Anthropology & Sociology Biographies
- 20 in Cultural Studies
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Customers find this book engaging and thought-provoking, encouraging them to question conventional wisdom. The book presents facts and figures in an engaging manner, with one customer noting how it examines data to explain everyday situations. They appreciate its humor, with one review highlighting its wit in discussing racism, and find it particularly useful for students studying A Level economics. Customers consider it a great value for money.

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Readability Insight Information quality Humor Content Economics content Reading material Value for money

171 customers mention ‘Readability’165 positive6 negative

Customers find the book engaging and fun to read, with one customer noting it's a must-read for all generations.

"...overall rather happy about this, i like the book its interesting but to be fair i only brought it as i have to redesign a cover for it at..." Read more

"...An interesting read and one you don't need an economics background to understand..." Read more

"...However, this is a good read and is full of interesting facts so I would recommend it." Read more

"...Interesting and entertaining though." Read more

94 customers mention ‘Insight’84 positive10 negative

Customers find the book insightful and thought-provoking, encouraging them to question conventional wisdom.

"...shortcomings, Freakonomics is, overall, incredibly good, and the informative and interactive insight that it gives you in to certain aspects of the..." Read more

"Loved this book, funny, eye opening, thought provoking, challenging, but most importantly its a fantastic read that challenges the norm" Read more

"...I'm no expert but could believe it was all correct and insightful!" Read more

"Very thought provoking" Read more

32 customers mention ‘Information quality’27 positive5 negative

Customers appreciate the book's presentation of facts in an engaging manner, supported by statistics, with one customer noting how it examines data to explain everyday situations.

"...Or you can just enjoy having learned some interesting facts, and a healthy reminder to question things." Read more

"Interesting facts, changed my perception of a few things." Read more

"...It covers a diverse range of facts ranging from the klu klux klan to the the significance of a child's name...." Read more

"...Freakonomics is written in an engaging and fun style that includes all the facts and figures necessary to support the arguments included within..." Read more

25 customers mention ‘Humor’23 positive2 negative

Customers find the book humorous, with one mentioning its remarkable wit in tackling racism, while another appreciates its fun style.

"...But the writers, whilst clever and funny, are not as clever as they are funny. Read this with a big bag of salt beside you..." Read more

"Great beginner's book. Funny." Read more

"One of the most interesting, and funny books I've ever read." Read more

"...The authors tackle sensitive issues such as race and racism with remarkable wit and honesty...." Read more

20 customers mention ‘Content’16 positive4 negative

Customers find the book's content interesting and fun, with one customer noting it covers six different topics through engaging anecdotes.

"...A light, harmless and good experience though; just like an Adam Sandler movie." Read more

"Some interesting bits but very cynical and quite depressing...." Read more

"My favorite. Interesting content. Not boring at all. Relevant facts of our society." Read more

"...with lots of original thinking, even if towards the end, it got a bit light on content...." Read more

20 customers mention ‘Economics content’16 positive4 negative

Customers appreciate the economics content of the book, finding it both insightful and entertaining.

"...I really enjoyed it. The combination of a professional economist, with an obviously divergent mind, aided by a journalist has created a thoroughly..." Read more

"...Stephen J. Dubner and economist Steven D. Levitt, is a book on modern economics that provides key insight into our society as well as clarifying the..." Read more

"Recommended by a work colleague this is a really different book about economics...In fact if they had used Freakanomics in the university economics..." Read more

"Not exactly an economics textbook, but probably the bestselling economics textbook ever...." Read more

20 customers mention ‘Reading material’19 positive1 negative

Customers find this book to be a classic for statistic-nerds and useful for their jobs, with several mentioning it's recommended reading for students studying A Level economics.

"A classic book for both statistic-nerds and those with a general interest in looking at society in a different way." Read more

"This should be a mandatory book to read in a school - a very important perspective on today's world, written in a very accessible and entertaining..." Read more

"...the authors pull together these disparate themes gracefully and guide the reader, no matter how novice in data analytics, through the data to..." Read more

"Not exactly an economics textbook, but probably the bestselling economics textbook ever...." Read more

20 customers mention ‘Value for money’17 positive3 negative

Customers find the book to be a great value for money, describing it as super cheap and well worth the read.

"...Well worth a read." Read more

"...it gives you in to certain aspects of the modern world is well worth the few issues." Read more

"...It's fine, and for 99p on Kindle was worth a punt, but it's not going to make you richer. Unlike the authors." Read more

"...I used it for train trips to london and with the book costing less than the train fare it was a no brainer." Read more

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Sergey Kornev
A must in today's world
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 April 2025
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This should be a mandatory book to read in a school - a very important perspective on today's world, written in a very accessible and entertaining way.

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San Patch
Question Everything, Look for Patterns, Challenge Conventional Wisdom
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 June 2008
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Why did the crime rate in major US cities decrease in the late 90's contrary to expert opinion? What do shool teachers and the Ku klux Klan have in common? In this interesting book, the authors explore the hidden side of these questions and many more such as the Black-White education divide, the organisation of drug gangs in Chicago and the apparent improvement in test scores in Chicago. They show, with remarkable wit, that people of all kinds respond to incentives and that we ignore this at our disadvantage.

Take the authors approach to the unexpected decrease in crime in big US cities. Conventional wisdom has it that the decrease in crime in these metropolises was due to a number of factors among which are better policing strategies, tougher sentencing for offenders (the broken glass concept) and an increase in the number of policemen. Messrs Levitt and Dubner argue instead that the precipitous decrease in crime rates was principally due to the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe vs Wade, which legalised abortion in the US. This is where it gets interesting: Women who took advantage of the Roe vs Wade decision in the mid 1970's were likely to be teenagers, poor and uneducated; precisely the type of mothers who were least likely to care adequately for the kids, whoo in turn are most likely to be criminals. Roe vs Wade then prevented the birth of these potential criminals and in the process, large US cities were "spared" the existence of these kids. The crime rate decreased in the mid-1990's just are these "Roe vs Wade" babies would have reached their peak crime years: late teens to mid twenties

The authors asked, "If dealing drugs is so profitable why do crack dealers live with their mothers?" This question was answered through the research on an inner city Chicago drug gang. The gang was shadowed by an Indian-American researcher for 3 years in which time he was lucky enough to obtain the gangs' detailed financial records. The gang had a well-ordered pyramidal management structure, which resembled McDonald's franchises. Tellingly, the financial records showed that the gang leader made much more money than all his minions combined; the crack dealers on the lowest rung of the ladder barely made minimum wage. However, these "runners" were willing to endure hardships and prove their mettle on the streets in order to move up the gang ladder into "upper management". The gang members, like the rest of us, respond to incentives. There is much else I like about the book that I will not rehash in this review because they have been covered by other reviewers.

Now some aspects of the book that I did not like. It was not clear to me what Dubner's role in the book was. His sole purpose seemed to have been to continuously massage Levitt's ego. Yes, we know that Levitt is a brilliant unorthodox economist but do you have to remind us of this fact at every turn? Luckily, Dubner's article, which inspired the book, was attached as an appendix for those who may or may not have been interested therein. The book was focused on the US. This is understandable because the authors and their target audience are American and, I imagine, are more familiar with the socio-economic situation in that country. For my money, I thought that the book was too short. It was over before I knew it. It took me all of one Sunday to finish reading it. That's a shame really. I expected a bit more. Maybe, the book was deliberately short in order to pique the readers' interest in a sequel?

For all its shortcomings, the salient message in this book is that we should challenge conventional wisdom; if it sounds too simple and convenient, then it probably is. The authors tackle sensitive issues such as race and racism with remarkable wit and honesty. In presenting their ideas they let the data speak as much as possible. They use the tools of economic analysis to question the data and confirm what I Iearnt in engineering school: if you flog the data hard enough, it'll sing. Freakonomics deserves my 4 stars.

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Kirstine
Wacky and thought-provoking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2010
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This is not normally the kind of book I would buy, but as it was recommended to me by the daughter of an economics professor I thought I'd give it a try! I really enjoyed it. The combination of a professional economist, with an obviously divergent mind, aided by a journalist has created a thoroughly readable book that uses the tools of economics to tease apart the factors influencing human actions and behavior. Some of the topics concern things that one wouldn't expect economists to be interested in, such as, does the name you're given at birth affect your likely success in life; are sumo wrestlers fixing their matches; or, more controversially, did the easing of abortion laws in the USA lead to a reduction in the crime-rate nearly 20 years later? As you can see the authors broached a wide range of subjects and weren't afraid to deal with highly contentious issues.
I've got the feeling that there's been a recent trend in the field of economics to try and put values on things like human happiness rather than deal exclusively with hard-nosed business and markets: a change of tack that broadens the appeal of their work to the general public. This book epitomizes this change and certainly had me thinking about a range of issues in a different way.

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7 people found this helpful

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Undomestic Goddess
Interesting and thought-provoking.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 September 2010
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This book is well written and broaches some interesting subjects. It covers a diverse range of facts ranging from the klu klux klan to the the significance of a child's name. The chapter headings are fascinating and the facts are presented in a very engaging and accessible way - it's not hard to see why this book is popular. However, in my opinion this is a three star book. There are very few chapters and the links are pretty tenuous i.e. Klu Klux Klan and Estate Agents. Futhermore, some of the chapters left me feeling a bit "so what?" the drug dealers living with their mums and the one on childrens names left me fairly apathetic. You couldn't help feeling there was much more to be done with the material. I also think my judgement is now skewed having subsequently read Dan Ariely's "Predicatably Irrational". He reports and extrapolates from all of his OWN research which I think gives the book heightened credability and leaves this one a little flat and superficial in comparison. However, this is a good read and is full of interesting facts so I would recommend it.

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Ryan
Who knew data analysis was so interesting?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 March 2020
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The nature of busting open conventional wisdom with data analysis to reveal the “hidden truths” that govern normal life (if you count sumo wrestling and drug dealing as normal life - which I suppose they are for some people) is naturally appealing to anyone with a curious mind. But this wouldn’t mean much were the book not written so well - full of charming and witty lines, the authors pull together these disparate themes gracefully and guide the reader, no matter how novice in data analytics, through the data to reveal conclusions anyone can understand.

As a Physics Grad - I never much liked the idea of being a data analyst but this book may have just taught me it can be interesting and fulfilling if you’re analysing they right data.

10/10
cool book
would read again

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Thamara Kandabada
Genius!
Reviewed in the United States on 30 December 2016
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My only regret is that I didn't read this book sooner.

After having heard great things about this book, I started listening to the podcast, Freakonomics Radio. Several months of that, and I finally bought the book. It did not disappoint. This book is pure genius, and even makes me regret why I never pursued economics as a career choice. Oh, if only they taught economics like this in our schools.

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Lisa
Great gift, great book
Reviewed in Germany on 13 January 2025
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Truly enjoyed reading this book and now like to gift it to people. Interesting, insightful, easy read.

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Clyve Westerlund
Freakonomics is One of those Books that’s a Must Read
Reviewed in Australia on 23 October 2022
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Being an economics major myself (although I only practice what I’ve learnt in school at minimal with regards to calculating actual functions Anne regression analysis and so forth, I do however utilise economics concepts and ideas on an almost daily basis), I found that when I was attending university; the content that I was learning seemed to be good but it didn’t seem to be connected to the real world in many instances. And I always questioned the value of placing people and organisations into neat mathematical models, but at the same time; more than that, to view economics as a science with certain principles/themes that are to be maintained whatsoever. Principles that should actually change as we progress and evolve and know more as a society because new things are popping up every year that challenges our preconceptions of everything. For a small example, is one stating that everyone is rational and profit seeking, and that companies only objective is just to make money or maximise shareholder value. Although this may be true in several cases, I believe it is a lot more complicated than that and does not leave room for improvements to be made upon. Economics is definitely more a social science and thus, changing as we the Humans that make up society change our ways and lifestyles. To subscribe to only mathematical functions is not an adequate practice, as the world I am seeing and living in seem to do some things that were stated in the textbook and many things that the courses did not explain at all or even consider. Especially when it comes to the third world countries from which I am originally from. Almost all comic theory is based on advanced economies, but the world is a lot bigger than that.

I found this book circling around, however just recently, and I can’t believe it took me this long to find out about this book. What Dubner and Levitt discuss in their findings is exactly the type of things I thought economics excels at and can help explain phenomena that goes on in the world with nuance and taking in the complexity of it all and then simplifying the conclusions for reader accessibility. Not merely inflation and foreign exchange and trade imbalances that the average person would not necessarily appreciate nor understand and might make people apprehensive about economics and it’s usefuleness. However, talking about the economy has never been more important than at this point in time of such diversity and happenings and disruptions because its society doing things and adding value and exchanging and interacting with each other.

To surmise, the contents in the book show some things I definitely wasn’t aware of, but also some things I was aware of but couldn’t exactly map out how things linked together. It is a brilliant reminder that everyone is viewing the world at different vantage points and different times. And we to do our best to accept what the current data is telling us. This is the data, this is the story of the data, this is what we have to deal with going forward. I feel Dubner and Levitt are the economics field own little mad scientist but for good reason. I cannot wait to see what they explore and discuss next.

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Mehmet Caktu
Kargolama berbat
Reviewed in Turkey on 14 November 2022
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Olduğu gibi, sarılmadan direk kutunun içine konulup gönderilmiş. Kenarları katlanmış, yırtılmış, hasar görmüş. Başka bir satıcıdan almanızı tavsiye ederim.

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Neva S.
Great read
Reviewed in India on 5 June 2024
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This book isn't just insightful but also really funny. I read it long ago but still remember most of the content because of how interesting it was. Anyone who likes going against the tide must read this. You'd see why things aren't always what they seem and how weirdly different elements in society can be related.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A must in today's world

4.0 out of 5 stars Question Everything, Look for Patterns, Challenge Conventional Wisdom

5.0 out of 5 stars Wacky and thought-provoking

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and thought-provoking.

5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew data analysis was so interesting?

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great gift, great book

5.0 out of 5 stars Freakonomics is One of those Books that’s a Must Read

1.0 out of 5 stars Kargolama berbat

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read

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A must in today's world

Question Everything, Look for Patterns, Challenge Conventional Wisdom

Wacky and thought-provoking

Interesting and thought-provoking.

Who knew data analysis was so interesting?

Genius!

Great gift, great book

Freakonomics is One of those Books that’s a Must Read

Kargolama berbat

Great read