Freakonomics
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Freakonomics
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Betty
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 12:38PM)
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Sep 21, 2007 11:35AM

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-Rob

But I would have liked a little more discussion of the "lies, damned lies and statistics"-thing in the book.



One thing I also found odd was that I thought I had a couple hundred pages left to read, until I discovered that the second half of this version is just reprints of articles that were already discussed in the book. I wasn't upset - as above, I was ready to move on. But strange nonetheless.
I gave this book three stars. He has some very good ideas, but not all of them are backed up with supporting data, and as I mentioned above, his tone was a bit too strong for me. But overall an interesting read. If he continued with this way of thinking and published another book like this one, I'd probably be too intrigued to pass it up.

Recently I have gone through some parts of "Undercover economist", it is worth reading for poeple who likes this style.




I loved his description of two people, one with all the advantages and higher education, and the other born in the slums with a broken home. The "advantaged" person became Ted Kazinski, the Unibomber. The other guy became a force for good in the world.
I also loved the story about the two boys, one named "Winner" and one named "Loser." (jail to those parents, right???) Winner became a career criminal, and Loser, known as "Lou," became a cop.


Jen, I'm not clear about what you're saying. I get that you don't disagree with the findings, but do you have a suggestion as to how can children's test scores can truly be raised?

I guess the biggest thing is, the kids need a reason to learn... especially in our inner city areas. Telling a 5th grader he will need the information in the future just doesn't cut it and trying to get a middle school kid to do anything that doesn't benefit them almost never works...


When I was in the fifth grade my teacher Ms. Connolly would hit my palm with a ruler. My Algebra teacher in HS swatted me on more than one occasion. I was a horrible student. But I loved to read....we would make counterfeit library cards get the books and keep them as long as we pleased. The problem is discipline, there aint any. Yesterday a Hawaiian chef told the students that the palate is where the taste buds are located. Of course all of you know how to spell potatoe. And Jay Leno stops women on the street and asks them where their prostate is located....and they dont know.

For more detailed insight, I highly recommend Thomas Sowell's Economic Facts and Fallacies. You should also enjoy Super Freakonomics.

Try Malcolm Gladwell. You'll love his writing.

I personally didn't enjoy Super Freakonomics nearly as much as I did the original. It had very good insight, but the points the author's make felt like watching an M. Night movie, there were all sorts of twists and loopholes before it all congealed together. It was an OK book, but I enjoyed it about half as much as I did the original.
Fred wrote: "Try Malcolm Gladwell. You'll love his writing."
Couldn't agree more with Fred, Gladwell does an awesome job writing in the same type of fashion, Outlier's is far and away my favorite of his...



While I'm on the subject, here are a few more Podcasts (all free) that are worth your time:
1. Money for the Rest of Us -- by J. David Stein (Economics).
2. The Partially Examined Life (Philosophy).
3. Stuff You Missed in History Class (History).
Dr. Leonardo Noto
Physician and Author







Dr. Leonardo Noto
Physician and Author





I was really impressed because this is not just another book that i s made because the authors wanted some fame or just wanted to be know by saying crazy things without a base because I seriously thought that there was no way that they could prove what they were saying. They actually could give and explanation behind what they were talking about.
I am exited to read the second book, which was the one I bought first and I was forced to read this one but anyway, I really liked it and I have to say that this book was a pretty easy read for a book that talked about economics.
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