Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Paperback

Published Nov. 7, 1600 by Penguin Books Ltd, Uk.

ISBN:
978-0-14-102580-3
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2 stars (1 review)

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? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? Freakonomics will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked 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 …

2 editions

Freaking read

2 stars

The book is mostly "garbage in, garbage out" analysis where an economist with the most superficial knowledge of several topics will do his own research and torture the numbers to say whatever. I give it one extra star because it does deliver on its promise of providing riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties - unless those parties happen to have a specialist to debunk your freaky/rogue claims, but that rarely happens (unfortunately).

If you know someone who likes to feel smart, who takes pleasure in a contrarian position, most likely holds individualistic and libertarian values, and is a bit of a smug that loves to gotcha people around, they'll certainly eat this book like it's hot cake. Of course the cover brings a recommendation by Malcom Gladwell himself, the forefather of fake expertise.