Freakonomics
About This Book
Freakonomics applies the tools of economics to questions most economists would never think to ask. Steven D. Levitt, an economist at the University of Chicago, and Stephen J. Dubner, a journalist, start from the idea that people respond to incentives. They then follow that idea into places that look far from the world of money and markets. Along the way, the book asks what schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common, and why so many drug dealers still live with their mothers. It looks at how real estate agents use their inside knowledge when they sell your home, and at whether the name you give a child shapes the life they will lead. It also examines the controversial argument that the legalization of abortion played a part in the fall in American crime. What ties these stories together is a habit of mind rather than a single subject. Levitt looks for data that others overlook, tests popular assumptions against it, and often finds that the conventional wisdom is wrong. The writing is quick and conversational, and it suits readers who enjoy being surprised by how the world really works, whether or not they have studied economics.
ISBN: 9780062312679
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