Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Fun and entertaining!

It was a very interesting and fun book. Some of the information wasn't new to me but it was far from repetitive or boring!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great book to read!

When I first started reading this book, I didn't expect it to be good at all but after reading it more, I was surprised by the information the author provides the readers with. I thought I would be reading a book with mostly statistics and numbers about economy but it's the exact opposite.This book teaches you how incentives can affect people's behaviors and why people act the way they do.It also gives you interseting examples, such as teachers who cheated in order to win bonuses and how abortions caused crime rates to decreae. By reading this book,you will be able to understand more about the strategies that economists and real estate agents use in order to gain profits. Basically The authors relate random real life examples to economy. I would suggest everyone to read this book because it's interesting and informative.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I Highly Recommended EVERYONE must check it out!!

I found the book very interesting. WHO KNEW IF YOUR NAME IS TYRONE ITS HARDER TO GET A JOB.AND SUMO WRESTLERS CAN CHEAT.

4TH PER FABIAN SKYERS

freakonomics is an interesting book that makes you wanna keep tu

freakonomics is an interesting book that makes you wanna keep turning the page and it is an easy read to all those that would be interested in economics.

This was a great book and kept me interested during every page.

This was a great book and kept me interested during every page. If i had one complaint is that while one of the book's main strength is being able to call back to previous information, it tends to do it often and becomes less amusing. Otherwise this book was absolutely great and would recommend it in the future!

I thought this book was actually really interesting. If you need

I thought this book was actually really interesting. If you need a book to read that wont make you have to think too hard but still offers you insight into different things then this is the book for you. It serves as a perfect reading book to pass the time and completely entertain you. I don't know if it will offer me insight that I will refer to for years on end, but it definitely offered me a good time.

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!

I was very impressed by this book. It was interesting because it showed how everyday things are intertwined with economics. Also, this book is quite accessible to readers of all levels because the authors wrote it so that it is easily accessible for someone who knows little of economics and because it includes quite a bit of humor. Overall, it was quite an informative and enjoyable book.

I was definitely surprised to find that this book was not so muc

I was definitely surprised to find that this book was not so much about economics as it was about everyday life. Even though the book jumped from topic to topic, the connections were clearly stated, and I never felt like I was being overwhelmed with information. The authors did a good job catering to all reading levels, making it a good book for just about anyone. I am really glad that I chose to read this book for my economics class, and I know that I will never think the same way about anything again.

Prior to reading it, I expected a dull, pure mathematically focu

Prior to reading it, I expected a dull, pure mathematically focused book. Nevertheless, the authors do a great job in combining their respective strengths into a best-seller non-fiction novel that conveys the statistics in a creative, friendly approach. If you have ever wondered what school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common, or why two children in the same class share the same name, yet each come from a contrasting culture and financial background, then I recommend this book! -AJ Jimenez P.4

This book definitely defied the conceptions that I held about ec

This book definitely defied the conceptions that I held about economics and how closely entwined it is in our society. It linked things I never thought would relate to each other and I was never bored as it has many different interesting topics. I especially enjoyed how it brought data to life and applied it to things that genuinely interest me.

An interesting read

I am not very interested in economics. However, I found this book very intriguing. I'm not an expert on anything this book discusses so I cannot judge its accuracy, but I still think that the unique way of breaking down the situations presents in each chapter made for a very entertaining read. I now look at economics in a different and more positive way. I would recommend reading Freakonomics.

Amazing. I cannot recommend everyone reading it enough. The cu

Amazing. I cannot recommend everyone reading it enough.

The curious and surprising information revealed within its pages is worth experiencing the book for yourself, but the best part about it is the good-natured questioning mood it puts one in after reading. I just want to go out and analyze a mountain of data now!

No matter whether you read non-fiction on a regular basis or not (I consider myself to be in the latter category) this book is a must-read.

Freakonomics is a must read!

Brilliant! Eye-opening! The power of statistics and drawing conclusions based on data that flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

Essential!

i received this book as a gift when I was 17 and was completely obsessed with it. Five years later, I still consider it a favorite. Freakonomics shows the invisible hand at work while hilariously commentating on fascinating discoveries. I can't think of anyone who shouldn't read this book!

freakonomics

In the book Freakonomics written by Steven Levitt who is an economist who has a unique way of looking at the world, he explores “ the hidden side of everything” including the drop in crime in the 1990’s, he concludes the it had little to do with what everybody was thinking such as new police tactics, more police on the streets cracking down on crime, or even a better and stronger economy. He reveals that it all began 20 years earlier with one woman from Dallas named Norma McCorvey and that that it was actually her court case years earlier that caused the severe drop in crime: Roe vs. Wade, the court case that legalized abortion. He says that most mothers getting the abortions are low income young women, who would give birth to children who were most likely to become criminals. Since abortion became legal many of these potential criminals were not being born Therefore, creating less crime, hence the substantial drop in the crime rate.
He also explores how the no child left behind act can make teachers cheat by teaching to the test or even changing their students answers to benefit themselves. He also reveals the corruption involved in sumo wrestling. How good parenting has nothing to do with your parenting skills at all, and a name given at birth can determine your child’s future, he provides details of gang drug dealing and how it is almost like a franchise. The further up you are in the gang the more money you make, and everybody aspires to be on the board of directors. He describes how “foot soldiers” or street-salesmen make less than minimum wage and have a 1 in 4 chance of being killed, yet there is a waiting list to become one. He even explains corruption through a story about bagels. I enjoyed reading the book and I would recommend that others read it too.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Recommended for anyone

Highly sophisticated read!

Problem: Crime. Solution: Abortion. (Spoiler Alert)

My mother is an economics teacher, and ever since she discovered the book "Freakonomics", I've been hearing about its humorous studies that would make even me, like economics. In this book, the authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, redefine the whole purpose and study of economics. Instead of looking for the obvious and easiest answer, they dig deep and look for the less obvious, but plausible answer. Instead of giving the public the answer they want to hear, they give them the "ugly truth" something that has caused this book to be a huge success, but also controversial.
One study investigated how names can affect your opportunities in life. For example if you have a very obvious black sounding name, will it make you less successful? The authors tested this idea by sending out two sets of identical résumés. One set with a black name the other set with a white sounding name. The set of résumés with the black sounding name received fewer call-backs than the resumes that had obvious white sounding name. This is interesting because it shows how bigotry and racism are still alive in America today. And finally the most shocking study in the book is the one that correlates the drop in crime in the early 1990's to the passage of Roe vs. Wade in the 1970's. Legalized abortion, according to Levitt, is directly related to a drop in crime. Legalizing abortion made it easier for women, especially poor women, to obtain an abortion and prevent unwanted children from being born. Unwanted children have higher rates of truancy, do poorly in school, and are more likely to become criminals. Children of poor, uneducated, unwed teenage mothers are the most likely to grow up to become criminals. If these children are never born, then they cannot commit crimes. He compared states that legalized abortion before Roe vs. Wade and saw that those states crime rates decreased earlier than the rest of the nation. He also noted that states that not only legalized abortion but also made abortion less restrictive saw even greater drops in crime. Although this study may seem morally objectionable, it's difficult to argue with the data.
These studies, and many others that the authors did, are what captivated me while reading this book. I believe that anyone with a sense of humor will love the approach that Levitt takes to answer questions and analyze things that people would never consider. Personally, I think the book is amazing, and everyone should read it because it really makes you pause and think that the causes behind some things you hear are not always true. After reading "Freakonomics" I am now looking forward to taking some economics classes in college. This is a book everyone should read.

Recommended

I would recommend Freakonomics because it is interesting. Levitt and Dubner correlate various seemingly different subjects together to prove an economic phenomenon. It is humorous at times as well as informative.

I highly recommend this book!

This book is interesting and extremely thought provoking. It forces you to connect things in life that you never thought were similar. The comparisons that Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner use are wild at first, but they help you learn about the root of economics, incentives, in a way that all readers will find fascinating.

Who knew econ could be so funny...?

The authors had such a great sense a humor that made me want to keep on reading. This book was mandatory for my economics class and I was really dreading to have to read a book about economics because I figured it would be so boring that it would make me fall asleep. Surprisingly, this book was the exact opposite! I totally recommend this book for any teenager that has to read an econ book for class because this one doesn't even seem like it's about econ. It literally made me laugh out loud about some of the things the authors said. This has to be one of my favorite mandotory books that I had to read for school.