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What Members Thought
Oh my gosh! Did I love this book! Oh yes, I did. The authors use the analytical tools of economics--such as regression analysis--to answer questions such as:
1. If selling drugs is so lucrative, why do drug dealers so often live with their mothers?
2. What do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common? (turns out a tendency to cheat)
3. Which is more dangerous--a gun or a swimming pool?
4. Why did Roe v. Wade lead to a drastic decrease in crime?
5. Why the reports of excessive amounts of money being ...more
1. If selling drugs is so lucrative, why do drug dealers so often live with their mothers?
2. What do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common? (turns out a tendency to cheat)
3. Which is more dangerous--a gun or a swimming pool?
4. Why did Roe v. Wade lead to a drastic decrease in crime?
5. Why the reports of excessive amounts of money being ...more
I had heard rave reviews of this book, and I agree that it was a quick and interesting read. I was especially intrigued by the authors' analysis of dropping crime rates during the 1990s (which they attribute to the impact of Roe v. Wade), and by their comparison of baby names by class and race. However, most of the surprises were taken away by the prologue, and I felt that the authors were repeating themselves at times. I also felt the praise for Levitt bordered on hero-worship. Okay, I get it.
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It was an easy read, not particularly deep, certainly more of a pop-culture read, in my opinion. More quirky and certainly interesting, in terms of critically re-framing the way we analyze current events. Not sure that I agree with all of his analysis. It certainly in some cases spoke from a valuing (the dominant) class and race biased lens.
Truly fascinating. At times anecdotal, but overall a well-researched and uniquely theorized view of...America. In this highly unspecialized volume, Levitt and Webber question the why of everything, and come up with sometimes glaringly obvious, but frequently completely unexpected results.
Interesting as hell. I'm no numbers guy (what the hell are those things anyway?), but they made those number thingies interesting. The issue of decreasing crime was REALLY interesting and controversial.
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Jan 17, 2008
Angel
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
business-and-economics
See my blog post on it:
http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.co... ...more
http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.co... ...more
I love this book. Gets you to think outside the box. Who thought data analysis could be so fun???
I like Econ!
Sep 21, 2007
Kathleen
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
political-science
Oct 09, 2007
Ellen
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
currenteventsissues,
non-fiction
