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: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Description
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Economics is not widely considered to be one of the sexier
sciences. The annual Nobel Prize winner in that field never receives as much publicity
as his or her compatriots in peace, literature, or physics. But if such slights
are based on the notion that economics is dull, or that economists are concerned
only with finance itself, Steven D. Levitt will change some minds. In Freakonomics
(written with Stephen J. Dubner), Levitt argues that many apparent mysteries of
everyday life don't need to be so mysterious: they could be illuminated and made
even more fascinating by asking the right questions and drawing connections. For
example, Levitt traces the drop in violent crime rates to a drop in violent criminals
and, digging further, to the Roe v. Wade decision that preempted the existence
of some people who would be born to poverty and hardship. Elsewhere, by analyzing
data gathered from inner-city Chicago drug-dealing gangs, Levitt outlines a corporate
structure much like McDonald's, where the top bosses make great money while scores
of underlings make something below minimum wage. And in a section that may alarm
or relieve worried parents, Levitt argues that parenting methods don't really
matter much and that a backyard swimming pool is much more dangerous than a gun.
These enlightening chapters are separated by effusive passages from Dubner's 2003
profile of Levitt in The New York Times Magazine, which led to the book
being written. In a book filled with bold logic, such back-patting veers Freakonomics,
however briefly, away from what Levitt actually has to say. Although maybe there's
a good economic reason for that too, and we're just not getting it yet. --John
Moe
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Forget your image
of an economist as a crusty professor worried about fluctuating interest rates:
Levitt focuses his attention on more intimate real-world issues, like whether
reading to your baby will make her a better student. Recognition by fellow economists
as one of the best young minds in his field led to a profile in the New York
Times, written by Dubner, and that original article serves as a broad outline
for an expanded look at Levitt's search for the hidden incentives behind all sorts
of behavior. There isn't really a grand theory of everything here, except perhaps
the suggestion that self-styled experts have a vested interest in promoting conventional
wisdom even when it's wrong. Instead, Dubner and Levitt deconstruct everything
from the organizational structure of drug-dealing gangs to baby-naming patterns.
While some chapters might seem frivolous, others touch on more serious issues,
including a detailed look at Levitt's controversial linkage between the legalization
of abortion and a reduced crime rate two decades later. Underlying all these research
subjects is a belief that complex phenomena can be understood if we find the right
perspective. Levitt has a knack for making that principle relevant to our daily
lives, which could make this book a hit. Malcolm Gladwell blurbs that Levitt "has
the most interesting mind in America," an invitation Gladwell's own substantial
fan base will find hard to resist. 50-city radio campaign. (May 1)
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