Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (Revised and Expanded)

A look at things through the eyes of an economist.

This book is a general interest book- and it certainly is interesting. The book, for anyone looking for an entertaining read, will like it. In a nutshell, the book takes a look at all sorts of things in society, from crack gangs to parenting, and then attempts to make sense of them by applying econonmic principles. According to the book, economics is really the study of incentives, and so using this kind of angle, the book comes up with answers to why things work the way they do.

A book that's hard to put down, I'm sure many readers will enjoy it. Also recommend The Sixty-Second Motivator for a more simplistic explanation of what motivates people and gives them incentives to do what they do.

15 out of 15 people found this review helpful.

Freakonomics was a very good book. i thought this book was going

Freakonomics was a very good book. i thought this book was going to be one of those boring economics with only numbers and weird vocab books , but it turned out to be an easy read. i like the way the booked wasn't much address to the number but how to solve and achieve preblems in life and the connection with econommics; also hepls you understand things such as " why do drug dealers still live with their moms"(Freakonomics). a question answered in the book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A poor man's Outliers

I listened to the audio book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell before I listened to Freakonomics. They are similar in style -- drawing conclusions about modern phenomena based on outlying characteristics. But Gladwell does a better job of telling compelling stories.

Freakonomics was more negative - discussing cheating teachers, drug gangs, etc. Gladwell found interesting correlations in less cynical subjects.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Very Interesting, Enjoyable Read

Freakonomics is certainly not the type of book I usually read, but I couldn't resist after all that I had heard about it. The six sections of the book, each bearing an intriguing title, explore truths behind modern day conventional wisdom, incentives, and morality. Covering a wide range of topics, from sumo wrestling to the bagel business to the Ku Klux Klan, the book offered a refreshing perspective to a few fascinating questions.

Levitt's argument that legalized abortion played the central force behind the crime drop of the 1990s, though at first startling, seemed to be thoroughly supported with convincing evidence. This trend follows throughout the book, as the authors present plenty of statistics for each of their findings and let the numbers speak for themselves. Levitt and Dubner stand strong despite all controversy, further solidifying their arguments as well as making the expanded version an interesting read.

Overall, the book was well-written and intended for a lay audience, straying away from sounding too scientific. Each chapter proved entertaining, as Dubner explains logical arguments with enthusiasm and a bit of humor. I truly enjoyed the eye-opening approach that Freakonomics offered and the strange topics of interest, learning much along the way.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An incredibly enlightening book.

Freakonomics provides the reader with the chance to take a new perspective on many different topics. It answers a seemingly complex question of why exactly drug dealers live with their mothers and shows how gangs are the reason why. This book is one that you would not want to put down and will want to read it through to the end. I would suggest that everybody reads this book and learn from it some very hard lessons. A chapter in the book describes how criminologists incorrectly found the answer to the 1990's crime rate drop and how that drop is linked to the legalization of abortion. Levitt and Dubner also show how everybody responds to an incentive, comparing the prices real estate agents get for their house versus their clients; also providing why a sumo wrestler is like a school teacher. This book shows the reader the hidden side of decision-making and how the economy works. It provides an insight to the world of economists and into the world of both psychology and sociology. From the book you can learn ways to bring patterns out of data (even though this wasn't an intention of the book) which is a very valuable skill to have. Another thing to learn is that common, conventional wisdom is mostly made up of lies and is created by "experts" in their own interest. It explains how those experts manipulate people by using their ignorance against them, and hopefully will teach the reader not to believe everything they hear. This book is one that every person needs to read at some point in their life, as it provides many different answers to life's questions and presents the method for answering those. Those methods can be used to answer your own personal questions and will help you out during your entire life.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

One of my favorite reads EVER

I absolutely loved this book. As an economics major it is so great to see the field studied and written about in a practical use that the majority will find interesting, even without ever really understanding an economics class. The reasearch was very thorough and the book is so fun and unique. It is a must read! I read this when it first came out years ago and I have re-read it multiple times out of the pure enjoyment of it.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Freakonomics

Personally, the book did not appeal to me. But I have to agree that the book had a lot of interesting facts, and that I did learn a lot. It is an easy to read book and has humor, making the reading exciting to many.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Freakonmicsis: fun on every level

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner is an easy, interesting book, even for people who do not usually like nonfiction or economics. Although based around economics the boook links people and situations that one would never believe could be linked before reading the book. With such chapters Why do drug dealers still with their parents? and What do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common? the book only gives the facts about the situations and leaves readers up to the challenge of figuring out what these facts mean. As I opened the book I never believed it would keep my attention throughtout. But as the facts came out and two totally different situations were linked I couldn' t put the book down. This book is good for anyone intersted in learning random facts that can be turned into a whole diffrent level of learning. Fun and interesting this book could be read by almost anyone.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Fascinating

Even though I did not think I would enjoy reading a book about economics I was pleasantly surprised by Freakonomics. It takes an unusual approach asking questions like ¿What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?¿ and ¿Where have all the criminals gone?¿ While some may not want to believe that the legalization of abortion is part of the reason crime rates have gone down the book shows you how the two are connected. Freakonomics is almost like a murder mystery that keeps you guessing to find out how and why two unrelated things are correlated. The book is packed with surprises and defines not how we see the world work, but how it actually does work. Even after finishing the book I went back to re-read some chapters because they were so intriguing .

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Very interesting.

Full of very interesting and surprising facts. A must read!

Awesome

Eye opening to say the least

An interesting read but a little pricey

This is an awesome book

Will not disappoint. Chapter 4 left me with one final thought - wow. Worth it.

Extremely enjoyable & informative read!

This book is proof that economics need neither be dry nor dull! It's extremely well written and covers a range of topics that will be (or should be) of interest to the vast majority of readers...

Both Intriguing and Knowledgeable!

This unconventional economics book hooks a reader at first glance. It can relate to anyones life; since it portrays societies daily hardships. By doing so, its a simple, intriguing quick read, that one will never forget. Hands down, greatest economics book!

Extraordinarily Insightful!

The topics in this book, ranging from cheating sumo wrestlers to crafty Real Estate agents, are explained with the full spectrum of possibility in mind. This book does a fantastic job of widening one's perspective and making one much more critically inclined. This is the type of book that anyone could benefit from reading, regardless of age or occupation. I'd recommend it to anyone!

ECONOMIC FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US!

Grand book if you are taking economics or even if you have a mild interest in behavioral economics. I would suggest this book.

Excellent Read

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner do an excellent job in detailing a subject (economics) that many do not like to discuss. The real world examples and relations that they use make it not only an informative read, but also one the reader can relate to real life examples. I recommend this book as well as the follow up SuperFreakonomics.

FUN

This book is really fun to read! Lots of really cool stuff you would have never thought of! I highly recommend it!

Somewhat Recommended- You should read it.

I liked how they used different and weird situations to describe economics and how we should pay close attention to the world and our surroundings. It shows that economics is everywhere and it takes some real life situations and describes it so that you do know whats going on and how you would never guess who would cheat but they will just to get money. I loved how they related two really different topics together and made them relate in a way that we understood and think is creative. It just shows us that economics can be related to anything and described to two very different things and it was very interesting to read for me.