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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
| AUTHOR: | Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner, Dubner Stephen J. |
| CATEGORY: | Book |
| MANUFACTURER: | HarperAudio |
| ISBN: | 0060776137 |
| FEATURES: | Unabridged |
| TYPE: | Audio - Business / Professional, Audiobooks, Business & Economics, Business/Economics, Economics, Economics (General), Economics - General, Economics - Theory, General, Popular Culture - General, Psychological aspects, Sociological aspects, Unabridged Audio - Business/Professional, Business & Economics / General |
| MEDIA: | Audio CD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 6 |
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Customer Reviews of Freakonomics CD : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Fun, but why exactly is this "freaky"? Each chapter of Freakonomics is prefaced with a laudatory excerpt from a magazine article, selling us on the idea that Steven Levitt is an economic genius. This is bolstered by the books subtitle: "A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything." Despite the outward appearance of some rebellious, glamorous edge, this bold claim hardly seems appropriate given the book's tone. It's rather going out on a limb to describe Steven Levitt as a "rogue economist" simply because he entertains the idea of studying sumo wrestlers under the umbrella of economics. In my opinion, this is not a totally zany idea, as the issue he studies clearly falls under game theory, itself a social science that applies heavily to business. Anyway, as far as I can tell, Levitt is more of a statician than an economist per se, one who uses his skill to assess social constructs. Is this, as the book would suggest, being a "rogue economist?" I guess, if your only criteria for distributing the "rogue" label relies on the reassignment of focus (society instead of business) -- not the employment of independent or non-mainstream theories. <
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>In addition, the title "Freakonomics" is also misleading. You might get the impression, before reading it, that because of the title, "Freakonomics" boldly enters uncharted territory in economic theory, using groundbreaking new methodology to shine an ultraviolet light on the seemy underbelly of modern life. Well, sort of. It shows us some interesting things, but I'd hardly call it a revelatory or groundbreaking methodology. Levitt is probably a gifted guy with stats, but when you boil it down he simply takes data, applies a standard statistical theory to it, and extracts findings. Not to shortchange him, but the results aren't "freaky" in any way. I think it would be fair to say that most other accomplished staticians would come to the same conclusions he does, given the same data. What Levitt has going for him is the subject matter he's interested in, which may be fortuitous for us as readers, but it seems preposterous to suggest that the science itself is any more wacky or freaky, which is what the title seems to be suggesting. <
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>My girlfriend accuses me of being overly sensitive to these points, and feels that I'm overlooking the content based on a feeling that I've somehow been lied to with regards to the title. Is this an accurate assessment? Well, I did fork out $25 for this book, so naturally, when I'm told that a "rogue economist" (ooh, how exciting!) is going to tell me about the "hidden side of everything," based on a mysterious and tantalizing scientific phenomenon described as "freakonomics" I naturally expect something different than this. Not to say that what I got wasn't good, it just wasn't as engaging or revelatory as what I would have expected, and maybe more to the point, I did not learn any applied lessons that I imagined I would. There was little to nothing in this book that I could use in any fashion in my life, aside from very specific statistics that are really only useful as trivia. The idea of there being a secret, hither-to-unknown concept called "freakonomics" that was the silent engine of the economic cosmos dissolved to dust the second I reached the last page. There simply was no theory that I might apply to my daily life somehow. No tidbits of economic, psychological, or behavioral knowledge that could somehow, in some way, be useful in an applied setting, which was extremely disappointing. <
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>As entertaining and as full of fun, interesting information as it is, Freakonomics felt surprisingly skimpy on meaningful content. It's a good-- if short-- read, and it more than likely contains information that I'll find myself reciting to friends and pondering over, but I can't help but walk away feeling like it's a half-finished book. By its own admission, there is no unifying theme to the chapters, and no particular purpose to its order. There's a sense of pointlessness and lack of cohesion that makes the book crumble under the weight of its own lofty pretensions-- or at least the ones put on it by the marketing department.
Business for Non-MBAs
This was the first book i have read in a long time and boy i realized what i had been missing all this time. Freakonomics is a very interesting book that talks about things u would never think about from an economic perspective.
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>This is an excellent book about economics especially for those of us who claim to hate the subject in general. Most economics book are dry and stuffy expositions of the "dismal" science. This book answers microeconomic questions like Why do most drug dealers live with their mothers? There is interesting stuff in here that you will not find anywhere else. Buy this book; you will not be disappointed!
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>Ranks up there with my other two favorite business books of the year, THE BLACK BOOK OF OUTSOURCING by Brown & Wilson, and THE WORLD IS FLAT by Friedman. Together, they make sense of globalization, the changing world economy and how you can make it work for you and your company or business. Two thumbs up!
Who knew economics could be so interesting?
The information in this book is so cool and unusual! The writing is great, so I thank Dr. Levitt for not trying to write this book himself. I'd love to see a sequel!