Title: Freakonomics
Author: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Genre: Non-fiction Economics
Pages: 336
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: A self-proclaimed "rogue economist" refuses to accept commonly accepted beliefs, instead using raw data and economic methods to draw surprising conclusions about various aspects of life. For example, he uses a person's name to predict their probability of being successful in life, he shows that drug dealers don't make nearly as much money as we would expect them to, and essentially proves that sumo wrestling matches are often fixed.
Thoughts: I actually listened to this book on CD (thanks, Dan) about a year ago, and I really enjoyed it quite a bit. When I listened to it I was in my senior year of my economics undergrad, so much of what he talked about was familiar to me, which was both a pro and a con. It was good because I could appreciate where he was coming from a bit more, but at the same time I think I was kind of missing the surprise factor that most people get because I'd actually heard of some of his conclusions in a few of my classes. However, there were several sections of the book that were completely fascinating and surprising to me (especially the chapter on parenting). Overall, this book is as enjoyable as economics gets (unless you're an econ nerd like me), so I highly recommend it.
Disclaimer: None.
Author: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Genre: Non-fiction Economics
Pages: 336
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: A self-proclaimed "rogue economist" refuses to accept commonly accepted beliefs, instead using raw data and economic methods to draw surprising conclusions about various aspects of life. For example, he uses a person's name to predict their probability of being successful in life, he shows that drug dealers don't make nearly as much money as we would expect them to, and essentially proves that sumo wrestling matches are often fixed.
Thoughts: I actually listened to this book on CD (thanks, Dan) about a year ago, and I really enjoyed it quite a bit. When I listened to it I was in my senior year of my economics undergrad, so much of what he talked about was familiar to me, which was both a pro and a con. It was good because I could appreciate where he was coming from a bit more, but at the same time I think I was kind of missing the surprise factor that most people get because I'd actually heard of some of his conclusions in a few of my classes. However, there were several sections of the book that were completely fascinating and surprising to me (especially the chapter on parenting). Overall, this book is as enjoyable as economics gets (unless you're an econ nerd like me), so I highly recommend it.
Disclaimer: None.
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