Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

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Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (Freakonomics #1)

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

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 275,696 ratings · 9,507 reviews

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? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime?

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economi...more 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? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime?

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 riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing—and whose conclusions turn conventional wisdom on its head.

Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple 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 book: freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of . . . well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Klu Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and—if the right questions are asked—is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking.

Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.(less)

Hardcover, Revised and Expanded Edition, 320 pages

Published October 17th 2006 by William Morrow (first published November 15th 2001)

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Jul 17, 2007 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People Who Appreciate the Value of Social Science

I guess some people don't like this book because it's not centered around one theme. Instead, it's more about the seemingly diffuse academic work of one of the authors Steven D. Levitt (the other author is a journalist, Stephen J. Dubner). Levitt is something of an economist but more like a social scientist using the tools of Microeconomics applied to other fields that happen to catch his interest (often having something to do with cheating, corruption, crime, etc.). In the back of the book he m...more I guess some people don't like this book because it's not centered around one theme. Instead, it's more about the seemingly diffuse academic work of one of the authors Steven D. Levitt (the other author is a journalist, Stephen J. Dubner). Levitt is something of an economist but more like a social scientist using the tools of Microeconomics applied to other fields that happen to catch his interest (often having something to do with cheating, corruption, crime, etc.). In the back of the book he mentions how he considers himself a student of Thomas Schelling who is kind of like the father of Game Theory (strategy theory?), except much more of a 'man of ideas' than what one might think of when one thinks about game theory today, which is much more mathematical.

Anyway, as for the book itself, I thought it was really great. I really like what Levitt is doing as far as using the tools of Microeconomics in other fields. One of my intellectual heroes (I only have a few) is Kenneth Waltz who did the exact same thing in the field of International Relations in the '70's and wrote the seminal book The Theory of International Politics, which pretty much the single-handedly invented defensive (neo) realism. More generally, I think Economics is probably the most formalized of the social sciences and the one to which others should esteem. A lot of the Political Science field concerned with both voter behavior and how legislatures work is now pretty formalized as well, and, I, for one, think this is a good thing. I don't see how anyone could think it's not (good) unless they a)think the scientific method cannot be used to analyze human behavior; or b)have a visceral aversion to mathematical languages. Actually, I am one of the latter, but I, at least, see the value in having a formalized language to work with.

As for the book itself, there's some maybe-controversial things in there like Levitt did some work that showed that the legalization of abortion in the U.S. (Roe v. Wade) was one of the main reasons that crime in the U.S. dropped in the '90's and continues at the same rates today. He stands behind it pretty hardily though and it doesn't seem like he has a moral agenda at all. Some might argue that the best writers are those who are best able to disguise their moral agenda, but considering he writes about all kinds of not-very-serious things like how sumo wrestling in Japan is probably corrupt as far as matches g,o and there's stuff in there about how real estate agents sell their houses for more than they sell their customers' houses (which, may or may not be surprising), I really don't think he has a hidden pro-life agenda.

Anyway, there's a bunch of stuff in there (the book), hence the 'freak' in Freakonomics. It's well-written. It's not dry. It's written for a lay audience. I recommend it. Read it and feel the power of social science! ;-)(less)

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Feb 24, 2008 Jim rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: candy, economics

This was an interesting book. I say it was interesting because I started liking it (a lot) when I first read it, as time passed I liked it less and less. In that way I call it a candy book, tastes good at first but leaves you worse off for reading it.

In my opinion, there are two problems with the book: First, Stephen Dubner comes across as a sycophant. Way to much of the book is spent praising Levitt. Secondly, I was disappointed in the lack of detail provided about Livitt's hypothesis. I wante...more

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Sep 15, 2007 Aileen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am indebted to airport bookstores. And I am thus indebted to such an extent, that I can confess to arriving early for any flight departing from an airport with a bookstore for the sole purpose of securing a few additional minutes to browse books. If it were not for the practicalities of travelling, I would probably have bought this book much sooner than I did for I had been securing extra minutes in airport bookstores just to read through another chapter long before I actually bought it.

You se...more I am indebted to airport bookstores. And I am thus indebted to such an extent, that I can confess to arriving early for any flight departing from an airport with a bookstore for the sole purpose of securing a few additional minutes to browse books. If it were not for the practicalities of travelling, I would probably have bought this book much sooner than I did for I had been securing extra minutes in airport bookstores just to read through another chapter long before I actually bought it.

You see, my travels are laden with a heavy debate: shall I pack my extra suitcase with books or groceries? I resolve this by alternating. For one trip to the Outside, a spare duffel bag will be dedicated to books and I will shun all opportunities to visit grocery stores just to preserve that determination. On the next visit, I will carry a spare cooler (rather than duffel bag) and splurge on leg of lamb and cheeses free of artificial coloring. The ultimate effect of this system, however, is a backlog in possessing the books I'd like to read.

Finally, however, the fates aligned. I was travelling to Iowa on what I expected to be a gloriously grocery-focused trip. But my cooler broke as I was carrying it to the truck that we would drive to our local airport. There wasn't time to fix it. I was sad, of course, as I had been anticipating all the pork I was going to return with from Iowa. But I consoled myself with all those Iowa cookbooks I could now carry, and resolved not to prolong any lamentations over the cooler. And, oh, did I find myself lugging around a heavy library - such hours did I spend in Powells (there was a 1 week layover in Oregon) and Iowa City's bookstores. The day before we left Iowa, Nate told me about how much he enjoyed this book. His description renewed my interest, and I committed myself to buying a copy before we left. But, alas, we ran out of time. We didn't make it to a bookstore. It was sadder than the last-minute loss of the cooler. So when we arrived in Chicago, and had a few minutes to wait for the connecting flight to Alaska, and our gate was right next to a book kiosk, and I was pretty sure there was just enough room in my carry-on to squeeze in one more book - it was this book that I grabbed.

I raced through it. Loving each chapter. I really can't recommend it enough. A fun read, for those who like to be entertained by books. Informative too, for those that like to read for knowledge, thought, and/or discourse. But what elevates it to favorite is that it alters perception and challenges assumptions. For what it's worth, I have no regrets that I carried this book rather than Iowa pork.....and I can think of no finer testament to a good book. Then again, most of my entertainment these days revolves around pickling turnips. So if turnips aren't your thing, feel free to take my recommendation with a grain of salt....but you should still read this book.(less)

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Sep 14, 2007 Elise rated it 3 of 5 stars

Levitt makes the lofty claim that economics is not swayed by moral sensibilities - it's a pure numbers game of course! However, not knowing much about him beyond his affiliation with the University of Chicago and what was written in the book, I can surmise that he is conservative, or at least what today would be inappropriately labeled "moderate." Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily...or at least I don't view it that way. Does it affect his conclusions? Absolutely. Levitt assumes his assertion...more Levitt makes the lofty claim that economics is not swayed by moral sensibilities - it's a pure numbers game of course! However, not knowing much about him beyond his affiliation with the University of Chicago and what was written in the book, I can surmise that he is conservative, or at least what today would be inappropriately labeled "moderate." Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily...or at least I don't view it that way. Does it affect his conclusions? Absolutely. Levitt assumes his assertion that Roe v. Wade is responsible for the drop in crime experienced in the 1990s is the most controversial in the book, but I was not bothered by that conclusion at all. What did raise my ire a bit was his statement that "Minorities commit more crimes." Perhaps the pure numbers seem to show so, but upon closer examination and more careful thought, one might conclude that minorities are simply arrested and convicted more often. In many cases, Levitt does delve into the deeper "behind the scenes" reasons for why things happen, but in this glaring example, he delves no further than to admit that poverty might have a link to crime commission, and with more minorities in poverty more of them commit crimes. Might it also have a link to crime conviction? The white suburban kid who can afford a long and arduous defense, or whose father knows someone who can get the kid out of a jam, has a much better chance of having his case dismissed than a poor minority kid assigned a public defender (not to say that public defenders don't do good work - in fact many of them are some of the most amazing lawyers out there). Suffice to say the system is stacked against people in poverty and minorities, and Levitt fails to fully acknowledge this in his discussion of what causes and helps prevent crime. I wasn't so much angry as I was disappointed. When one of the brightest minds in our country can't see beyond his own prejudices, where is the hope for the rest of us? Levitt might be a genius, but he is woefully culturally incompetent. (less)

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Jul 09, 2007 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Sure, this book was a compelling read that offered us all some great amo for cocktail party conversation. But ultimately I think most of what Leavitt claims is crap.

He dodges accoutability with the disclaimer about his book NOT being a scholarly work, but then goes on to drop statistics, theories and expert opinions. These assertions laid, he doesn't provide readers with enough information to critically examine his perspectives.

Ultimately I have a problem with the unquestioned, unaccoutable rol...more

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Jan 31, 2008 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: po-mo armchair economists

Shelves: economics, 2008, own

An engaging read but not necessarily the scintillating, mind-blowing experience it had been hyped as.

Levitt and Dubner present their arguments well and their style makes the at-times daunting subject matter easier to approach and thus easier to digest. I don't read much non-fiction (for example) and even less stuff about economics but I found this book quick to get through and I was able to take away their message without having to labor through it.

That said, a few points:

(1) They make some outr...more An engaging read but not necessarily the scintillating, mind-blowing experience it had been hyped as.

Levitt and Dubner present their arguments well and their style makes the at-times daunting subject matter easier to approach and thus easier to digest. I don't read much non-fiction (for example) and even less stuff about economics but I found this book quick to get through and I was able to take away their message without having to labor through it.

That said, a few points:

(1) They make some outrageous claims. To their credit, these claims appear to be backed up by the data. Their rhetoric is frequently hyperbolic though. At times it takes some patience to get the point of a given chapter. The arc tends to go like this: outrageous claim > brief discussion of that claim > discussion of parallel claim > presentation of data > analysis of data > tie them together > see if you can tear down the argument via convention wisdom > oops, conventional wisdom falls under scrutiny of the data. That said, the style makes it easy to break chapters up into small read-it-on-the-can chunks; if you read it that way, prepare to bite your tongue on any given objection until you have finished.

(2) In light of #1: Levitt keeps mentioning that he's not much of an economist and even poorer with his math. But there's a lot of math in here. (Presented in a friendly, non-mathematical sort of way, but math nonetheless.) So... Is he just putting us on? Or (as A. would say) is it that "stats" aren't "math"?

(3) Also in light of #1: I would like to have seen more of the data. We get a lot of "xx% decrease" and "such-and-such quadrupled" but the figures themselves are obfuscated. There is an extensive appendix of notes at the end of the book which references specific articles; I'm assuming the "hard numbers" are in those articles. But my own background (i.e., bio-psych research papers) biases me to expect a more explicit presentation of those data. So that was disappointing.

(4) Levitt & Dubner allege at the beginning of the book that there is no unifying theme. That's more/less crap. The unifying theme seems to be: here are some microeconomics, mostly having to do with crime and/or corruption (see also: crime).

(5) The "Revised & Expanded Edition" was touted to me as essential because of all the additional articles and re-published blog posts etc. that are now included in this binding. I was a bit under-whelmed by these. They were certainly interesting and they do help illuminate aspects of the text but I didn't necessarily believe that they were essential. (The revisions vis-à-vis Stetson Kennedy's KKK research however: very essential.)(less)

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Jul 18, 2007 Bobscopatz added it Recommends it for: People who know data

Yes, zero stars.

There is one segment of this book that reports use of a dataset I know very well -- the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data. From what details they put into the book, it's fairly clear that the researchers did not research the reliability of the data elements they chose to use from FARS. In particular, their analysis rests on the ability to identify uninjured children in vehicles that were involved in fatal crashes. FARS has data elements for this, but the reliability...more

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Mar 16, 2009 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science, well-i-think-its-funny, japanese

I loved this book, though I think the title is a bit misleading. It's not really about economics. In fact, he's showing you what interesting things you can discover when you apply statistical analysis to problems where you wouldn't normally think of using it. I use statistical methods a fair amount in my own work, so I found it particularly interesting. The most startling and thought-provoking example is definitely the unexpected reduction in US urban crime that occurred towards the end of the 2...more I loved this book, though I think the title is a bit misleading. It's not really about economics. In fact, he's showing you what interesting things you can discover when you apply statistical analysis to problems where you wouldn't normally think of using it. I use statistical methods a fair amount in my own work, so I found it particularly interesting. The most startling and thought-provoking example is definitely the unexpected reduction in US urban crime that occurred towards the end of the 20th century. Crime rates had been rising for decades, and people were really worried about what would happen if the trend continued. Then, suddenly, they peaked and started to decline. Why? There were a bunch of theories, all of them superficially plausible.

Levitt crunched the numbers, to see what proportion of the variance could be ascribed to the different factors. This is a completely standard technique; it just hadn't been used here before. He came to the conclusion that the single most important factor, by far, was the ready availability of abortion that started to come in after Roe v Wade. Other things, like more resources for policing and tougher sentencing policies, probably helped, but not nearly as much. I didn't at all get the impression that he had been expecting this result from the start, and just wanted to prove his point. He processed the data, and went where the numbers led him. That's how you're supposed to do science.

The clincher, at least as far as I was concerned, was the fact that crime statistics peaked at different points in different states, the peaks correlating very well with the dates when each state started making abortion available. States that brought it in early had correspondingly early peaks in their crime rates. It's hard to see how that could happen if Levitt's explanation weren't correct.

I am surprised that there hasn't been more discussion of Levitt's findings in the political world. Maybe it's just regarded as too hot to handle. But if Levitt is right, and at the moment I would say it's up to his critics to explain why he isn't, then pro-life campaigners would seem be heading in a very unfortunate direction.
(less)

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view all 15 comments

Tatiana I'd say its conclusion about abortion is that women pretty much know when it's a good idea or a bad idea right now for them to have a child. I'm in fa...more
Jul 31, 2011 10:32pm

Manny Tatiana, I'm totally with you on this one.

I should say that Notgettingenough looked around to see what new material there was available. The conclusio...more
Jul 31, 2011 11:08pm

Oct 25, 2007 Chanita.Shannon marked it as to-read

Shelves: to-read-wish-list, non-fiction, economics

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...more 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 Amazon)
______________________________

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.
(From Publishers Weekly)(less)

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Jan 12, 2008 Osho rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007

+ A fun foray into seemingly dissimilar questions about society, readable
- Cumbersome transitions at times, dismisses other arguments in suspect ways

This was a good-enough non-fiction read, though I think it does illustrate the idea that a bestseller may be appealing without being rigorous. As companion pieces, read Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference and Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking; Gladwell addresses some topics in common with Freakonomic...more + A fun foray into seemingly dissimilar questions about society, readable
- Cumbersome transitions at times, dismisses other arguments in suspect ways

This was a good-enough non-fiction read, though I think it does illustrate the idea that a bestseller may be appealing without being rigorous. As companion pieces, read Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference and Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking; Gladwell addresses some topics in common with Freakonomics and though one may also question his accuracy, he is a better writer.

Accuracy is a bit hard to evaluate here, since the methodology and statistics aren't described. My impression is that there is an over-reliance on correlation and that at times it is confused with causality. In addition, the justification for calling this research "economic" rather than "sociological," for example, seems to be the conversion of what we might understand as "psychological motivation" into "economic incentive." I'm not opposed to this, but when I consider how to design some of these correlational studies from my perspective as a psychologist, I wouldn't do anything different (other than underscore more firmly in my popular reporting that correlation is not causality). I question what appears to be mystique-building on the authors' part in this regard.

Each chapter is preceded by an annoying, self-aggrandizing excerpt about Levitt from one of Dubner's articles. I found these really offputting and was glad to learn that they have been removed from the revised edition, apparently because I was not alone in finding them irksome.

Like all reports of statistics describing a large number of participants, these reports provide, at best, generalizations about how the majority of those surveyed or observed behave (or so I assume--measures of central tendency were not reported, nor was the degree of significance in most cases). As anyone who does not have 2.3 children knows, statistical samples tell us about a fictional person. I remind you of the joke about the three statisticians who go deer-hunting. They spy a magnificent buck and the first statistician exclaims, "It's mine!" BANG! Her bullet goes two yards to the left of the deer. "No, it's mine!" calls the second. BANG! Her bullet goes two yard to the right, and the third statistician yells, "Bullseye!" This book would be more interesting, and more useful, if it told us something about the range and tails of the distribution in each study, giving the reader a better understanding of human experience, or, as our unique and individual experiences are known to statisticians, "error."(less)

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Sep 14, 2007 Sean rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: economics

There are at least two ways you can read Freakanomics – as a fun and interesting little book that uses data to tell us little things about ourselves and the world. Or, you can see it as econometrics gone apeshit and finally taking over the world. I kind of view it as both.

That said, I really enjoyed reading this. I think Levitt has developed some useful tools that can tell us some interesting stuff about the way little corners of our world are organized. I also think it is a little bit batty to...more

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May 26, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

re-reading in prep for the super-freaks

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Dec 13, 2008 Christina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Christina by: Mom

Shelves: thanks-mom, 2008-reads, library-book

After packing 5 books for my trip, I found myself sitting in the Philadelphia airport with nothing to read. My mom, instead of buying me Remember Me? or Change of Heart, handed me her copy of Freakonomics: A rough Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

Freakonomics was a great back-up book. It was witty, insightful, and really made me think. What does the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real-estate agents? Why do drug dealers still live with their...more

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Jul 09, 2008 Jake rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anthropology, psychology

The Basics:

Freakonomics isn’t really about any one thing, which makes it a bit hard to summarize. In essence, it’s economist Steven Levitt playing around with economic principles and basic statistical analysis to examine various cultural trends and phenomena. He tackles a variety of questions, from whether or not sumo wrestlers cheat (they do) to whether or not a child’s name determines his success (it doesn’t). He does this all through examining statistics and data, trying to find facts to back...more

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Aug 07, 2007 Sean Cooney rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read Freakonomics last year, but I've continued to enjoy it more and more as I share parts of it with my English classes. It's a great nonfiction work to bring into the classroom, and the way it's divided into independent chapters makes it easy to do so. Kids who in general do not read find this writer's hypotheses (and proofs thereof) fascinating. Kids in general classes have asked me to borrow it.

The way the Steven Levitt is a "rogue economist" is ironic. Although I'm sure the term applies t...more

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May 16, 2011 Kressel Housman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, economics, poverty

I really love this genre of books that makes economics seem human; it was such darned deadening subject when I studied it in high school. And this book may well be the first of the human economics genre, though I prefer Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Arielly (perhaps because I read them first). In any case, this was a fast and absorbing read, especially the section about crack dealers. The point about abortion and crime is so well-argued, I don't think I can deny it. . .except that it's morally appall...more

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Dec 28, 2007 Joe S rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who enjoy Resistance while also enjoying their privileged position that allows them to Resist

Shelves: nonfiction

The most interesting part of this book was the introduction. Sad, but true.

Four stars for presentation. The prose is nearly invisible, which I suppose in this genre is preferable to the alternative. And the content is mildly interesting, in a "Huh. Wouldja look at that" sort of way, as though you saw a duck waddling through your back yard with jam on its head.

But insofar as it's meant to be the vehicle for a larger framework for viewing the world, this book is old news. You mean shit's connected...more

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May 08, 2008 Lesandre rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everybody

Exceeds the hype! Easy breezy to read, a wealth of information that I would never have stopped to contemplate. I had just read the chapter on the KKK and the real estate agent when my car was totaled; it helped me choose a posture with the insurance adjusters that wouldn't result in a total ass-raping. The last chapter about names was simultaneously horrifying and hilarious. It is dismaying to confess, now, that I am more judgmental of people's names knowing the societal/economic trends behind t...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Dyuti rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all those who doubt how much fun statistics can be

Shelves: non-fiction, ebook

Hypothetically, if I were to ask you to read a book on Economics and Statistics would you make such a skeptical face?

There would be a high probability that you would.But going against all odds, as a statistician myself, I would implore you to give it a try. As it's NOTHING like what you'd expect it to be!

Its as much fun as jumping ~~naked~~ from a plane, while revolving a hula-hoop around your waist! (Unable to provide a suitable picture) Ok. Maybe not THAT MUCH fun. But, ya, you get the gist.

It's...more

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Jun 04, 2013 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, read-in-2013

You know, I really enjoy economics and I used to listen to the Freakonomics podcast so I figured I'd enjoy this book more than I did. I think it's lack of a theme (which the authors clearly warn readers about ahead of time) contributed to my overall "meh" attitude. Additionally, I found myself yearning for more than just Levitt's observations and findings. For example, simply stating that data shows higher abortion rates yield lower crime rates and then not delving too deeply into the reasons th...more You know, I really enjoy economics and I used to listen to the Freakonomics podcast so I figured I'd enjoy this book more than I did. I think it's lack of a theme (which the authors clearly warn readers about ahead of time) contributed to my overall "meh" attitude. Additionally, I found myself yearning for more than just Levitt's observations and findings. For example, simply stating that data shows higher abortion rates yield lower crime rates and then not delving too deeply into the reasons that underlie this phenomena just didn't do it for me. That's an extremely weighty thing to state, regardless of if you have data to back you up or not. I guess I wanted some sociology mixed in with my economics. Alas, Levitt is an economist not a sociologist or political scientist.

I also want to add that as someone with an MBA (thus, I took classes on data in grad school and would be fine to never run a regression again despite how interesting it can be) and who works with data at her job, I know firsthand how easy it is to manipulate data. I want to assume that Steven Levitt was completely neutral in his research, but who can really know except for Levitt himself? And, who funded all of his studies? I realize Harvard comped him for some work, but what about his studies on Chicago Public Schools? I find it interesting that a school system would turn over their data to him whenever it was inevitable that he find some questionable (and illegal) things going on. I don't know. Again, I want to assume that he was completely neutral, but spinning data is pretty darn easy. And even assuming he completed his research with no bias, what about the actual data he was working with. Some of the "perfect parent" data (I think it was still Chicago Public School data) seemed very subjective. For example, how exactly was "a lot" quantified in the the data point regarding "parents who have a lot of books in their home"*? I have ~200-300 books and don't really consider that "a lot." You might disagree which is my entire point. Won't different people quantify and thus answer that question differently? Ok, I'm going too deep into this. Basically, I know first hand that you can tell whatever story you want to with data, so I wonder what approach Levitt took in order to remain unprejudiced and unbiased.

And finally, I imagine I wasn't the only one holding their breath while reading over the low income baby names. Not that it means anything, but it was still a bit jarring to hear how a person's name reflects their parents' income. Some of the names were very obviously high or low income names, but it was interesting to hear how many common names have moved back and forth on the different lists over time. That portion of the book was undoubtedly the most interesting, and seemingly the most objective--both from sociological and data standpoints.

*might not be the exact wording used, but I listened to the book and thus can't reference the print.(less)

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Jul 15, 2012 Christina Lear rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating book about how we can measure social phenomena. I particularly love all the focus on education and the development of children. There are some really interesting theses presented here - for example, that Roe v. Wade lowered the crime rate by minimizing the amount of children in at-risk situations, or the idea that the actions parents take with their kids really don't make as much difference as who their parents are. I read this on the beach next to a friend and kept interru...more

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May 08, 2010 Cwn_annwn_13 rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: from-public-library

I assumed Freakonomics would be a book that used statistics to debunk various societal hysterias and fearmongering in a semi-humorous way. I quickly realized what I was in for when early in the book when the authors gave their background as Harvard Jews and profiled a guy that infiltrated the KKK for the ADL. The story sounds at least partially made up.

It then jumped into predictable white guilt inducing trash and goes into mental contortions using "data" and sociological explanations for black...more

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May 04, 2013 Bianca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Freakonomics is a non-fiction book that cannot easily be categorized. It is about economics, yes. But it is also about crime, corruption, cheating, lying, real estate, parenting, sumo wrestlers, teachers, drug dealers, and more. The authors, Steven B. Levitt and Stephen L. Dubner (Levitt, an (unconventional) economist, and Dubner (a financial/economics journalist)), are trying to dispel the theory that economics and everything surrounding it is a boring subject...because it is not. One of the bi...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Carlo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: economics, non-fiction, behavioral-economics

One of the most interesting topics in Freakonomics, is that of bad assumptions in causality. These are made when people consider causality regarding a particular event, and they making assumptions that are affected by factors such as self-interest, prejudice, common sense, etc. The book shows that when the right questions are asked and their answers are searched in a bigger context, some unrelated causes may happen to trigger the original event. An example from the book is how crime rate had fal...more One of the most interesting topics in Freakonomics, is that of bad assumptions in causality. These are made when people consider causality regarding a particular event, and they making assumptions that are affected by factors such as self-interest, prejudice, common sense, etc. The book shows that when the right questions are asked and their answers are searched in a bigger context, some unrelated causes may happen to trigger the original event. An example from the book is how crime rate had fallen in the US during the mid-90’s after years of increasing and contrary to the most predictions. The authors noted that legalizing abortion in 1973, which is totally unrelated to crime, is what mainly led to the fall in crime rate. They argue that most unwanted children who are most likely to have criminal tendencies, were not born anymore because of the said legalization. Most people would assume that crime rate had fallen because of the strong economy or because of new police strategies or whatever. But when you look at the bigger picture, the real chain of events may begin to materialize. The book helps knowing how to differentiate good assumptions from the bad ones. A very helpful tool in this is the study of incentives.

People respond to anything according to their incentives. An incentive can range from money to something as vague as inner peace. In the previous example, treasury people will want to believe that a strong economy helped bringing crime rates down. The police chief will most likely convince himself and other people that his new police strategies are the major contributor to the fall. Some may think that God intervened and helped. This may seem a very simple idea, but when it comes to everyday life, everyone’s incentive is not that clear. An example to this is that of real estate agents. The book demonstrates how real-estate agents will in all likelihood convince you to sell your house at a price that they would not approve if they were themselves the owners of your house. Their explanation is quite simple and plausible: When you're the owner of the house, an increase of 10000$ means a mere couple of hundred dollars for the agent, whereas that is not the case when the agent is the owner.

I’m not an expert in the field, but I believe that statistical analysis and its implications are not always applicable on the individual level because it cannot make cut and dry conclusions, and we don't like that individually. Maybe it can help us be more observant, but that has significant side effects, with the most probable one being confusion. The authors claim that the book will help people individually, but I think it can be of much help to corporations or groups.

Another problem I've realized is the correlation of data, which may lead to contradicting outcomes as happened in this very book. In one study, the authors show that parents with high income are most likely to raise a successful kid. Yet, in another study near the end of the book they show that the parents’ economic status does not affect their child’s success in life at all, since other factors may be at play. I know that in statistics, it is very natural that individual cases may contradict with one another which is something inherent in the nature of statistics, but when entire statistical outcomes contradict, I think the method used can fairly be deemed inefficient.

This was much more enjoyable than reliable, except for the last chapter about names which I believe was a total waste of time. I think that rather than providing anything new, the book is a practical training about a much older wisdom, the maxim of Cassius, which was quoted by Cicero: Cui bono?
(less)

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Oct 23, 2012 Lulu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As an economist I find this book fascinating........ok I hold a degree in Economics so have known economists and well maybe if they were more like Levitt then maybe I would be an economist today!! I suspect econometric would have been easier to stomach if the questions we studied reflected the content of this book. My favorite line so far is in the Introd where Levitt confesses he knows nothing about the economy, interest rates, etc - now if only all the other economists would admit this fact to...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Caroline rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People interested in psychology, crime, statistics.

A fascinating book that taught me a lot of things about myself and other people that were distinctly uncomfortable. Herewith some of the tidbits I picked up.

* About 10% of the population are happy to commit some sort of fraud, even if it just consists of not paying for their lunchtime sandwiches.
* IQ is inherited not nurtured
* On the whole we don't like old people.
* Attractive men are rich, tall and have a full head of hair.
* Attractive women are pretty, blonde and not too successful.
* The intro...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Joel rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is not the super-awesome, totally-in-your-facer that, like, "society" or whatever would like you to believe it is.

If pressed, I'd assign this book to a category I'd call "Books That People Who Love Malcolm Gladwell Might Also Enjoy." There's no doubt that Steven D. Levitt is an expert number-cruncher, organizer, and researcher. The conclusions with which he attempts to wow the reader, however, are specious, hyperbolic, and generally lame-o-zoid.*

Here's an example: The author explains...more This book is not the super-awesome, totally-in-your-facer that, like, "society" or whatever would like you to believe it is.

If pressed, I'd assign this book to a category I'd call "Books That People Who Love Malcolm Gladwell Might Also Enjoy." There's no doubt that Steven D. Levitt is an expert number-cruncher, organizer, and researcher. The conclusions with which he attempts to wow the reader, however, are specious, hyperbolic, and generally lame-o-zoid.*

Here's an example: The author explains a situation in which a parent will not permit their young child to go over to a friend's house because the child's friend's parents keep a gun in their home. The [first] parent, however, WILL allow their child to visit a DIFFERENT friend's house whose parents do NOT have a gun, but whose family has a swimming pool. The book then goes on to explain the statistics behind how many children die of gun deaths in this country in a given year versus how many children die in swimming pools in this country each year and determines that the [original] parent is not, according to the data, acting reasonably due to the fact that the likelihood of the child dying in a swimming pool far outweighs the likelihood of the child dying from a gun.

Now, there's a reason why, when we talk about gun-safety, we don't talk about swimming pools. It's because swimming pools, if you'd believe it, don't have anything to do with gun safety.** In fact, that entire statistic-set, while an interesting mental exercise, is really no help to the parent. The statistic, were I a parent, that I would be interested in learning is something like: Out of all of the situations involving children dying from gun wounds in this country in a given year, how many of those instances took place when the child was visiting a friends house? I don't know the answer to that, so, I'll just continue to be pleasantly outraged and move on to my next thought.

This book, at its root, is arguing that the things we take for granted, like, belief-wise, might not only not be the case, but the actual truth of the matter(s) might be completely and utterly counter-intuitive to what we feel to be right. I think that's a great message and I wish this was simply a thinking-outside-the-box appreciation book. As a matter of fact, that's exactly what the [nearly two page] epilogue is arguing. With that in mind, I whole-heartedly recommend this book's epilogue.

If, however, you're actually looking for a book to explain the hidden, counter-intuitive side to everything, like, for RIZZ, I'd recommend "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos.

BONUS THOUGHT: I should make it clear that I feel that the reason that "Freakonomics" is famous and "Innumeracy" is not famous, despite the fact that Mr. Paulos uses fewer pages to say more things more clearly, has to do with the fact that there is actual mathematics involved in the latter while the former just requires the reader to want to feel as though they're a smart person.

FIN

*But, some are for defs totes awes!

**I certainly understand the value in thinking abstractly about complicated questions as a way to expand one's mind/cognitive-like-sitch; it's the conclusion that I'm attacking here.(less)

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Feb 13, 2010 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This makes a second non-fiction hit read that I am coming to years late. The subject material is fascinating and told in a clean, straightforward, and engrossing fashion. Also, it was surprisingly short. The result felt to me like being given three clocked minutes to pile my plate as high as possible at some fabulous and fantastical buffet. How could I be satisfied with what ended up on my plate? I wanted to keep geeking out on the factoidal threads, and would have welcomed a book twice the leng...more This makes a second non-fiction hit read that I am coming to years late. The subject material is fascinating and told in a clean, straightforward, and engrossing fashion. Also, it was surprisingly short. The result felt to me like being given three clocked minutes to pile my plate as high as possible at some fabulous and fantastical buffet. How could I be satisfied with what ended up on my plate? I wanted to keep geeking out on the factoidal threads, and would have welcomed a book twice the length.

Despite the fact that Freakonomics insists that it has no unifying theme, there are some solid takeaways. This book presents as good an argument as any I've seen that a) careful statistical assessment destroys anecdotal evidence* every time, b) humans are temporally myopic -- we're simply not good at tracing causes that go too far out of our memory or sight, and c) this is my own personal gloss on the material, but economics and statistics are the weird and wonderful place where the qualitative meets the quantitative. Trying to understand things just through numbers or just through logical notions doesn't get you nearly as far as a deft synthesis of the two.

That said, the part of the book that I found least persuasive were the bits where the camera pulled back, and the author tried to talk about what economics and, specifically, the work of microeconomics wunderkind Steven Levitt means. They come across as vague encomiums of Levitt without illuminating the subject matter much or at all.

At the end of the day (or book, I suppose), what makes the book well worth reading are the fascinating peregrinations of the mind of Steven Levitt, and any complaints you have are likely to be that you didn't get enough of it: enough insights, enough details, enough marvelous, obscure, winding revelatory discourses into our everyday lives.

*And just last night I watched the Daily Show skewer news commentators who took the recent blizzards as evidence against global warning. Being in Australia proves global warming! Being in NYC disproves it! Being out at night proves global darkening! And so on.(less)

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May 08, 2011 Elise rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Great book! You can easily see why it is so popular. Lots of interesting stuff. Like this:
-Legalizing abortions led to a dramatic decrease in crime across the country (they are not condoning abortion, just pointing out an unexpected consequence of it)
-Car seats: "Car seats are, at best, nominally helpful. It is certainly safer to keep a child in the rear seat than sitting on a lap in the front seat, where in the event of an accident he essentially becomes a projectile. But the safety to be gaine...more

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Dec 21, 2008 Beckie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a little bit late to the party on this one, I realize. I'd heard so much about "Freakonomics" that there didn't seem to be much point in actually reading it. But I had a prolonged airport experience yesterday and devoured the whole thing.
I hadn't realized Steven Levitt had lost a child, and knowing that changed the way I looked at a lot of his ideas. Even thought I had heard many of the arguments Levitt makes before reading the book, I found his ideas compelling and provocative. His argument...more

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About Steven D. Levitt

Steven David "Steve" Levitt is a prominent American economist best known for his work on crime, in particular on the link between legalized abortion and crime rates. Winner of the 2003 John Bates Clark Medal, he is currently the Alvin H. Baum Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, director of the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Bu...more

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