Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Book Review: Some interesting ideas, but very thin
Summary: 3 Stars
This book attempts to explain how the study of the influence of incentives upon behavior can be applied to questions of human behavior that are not strictly financial. He has some interesting ideas, and his methods are usually sound and persuasive, if not absolutely convincing. Probably the most eye-opening and controversial topic in the book is his conclusion that the primary explanation for the decrease in crime over the last fifteen years or so was the legalization of abortion. His reasoning is that unwanted children commit more crimes, and that the legalization of abortion meant fewer unwanted children. He does a good job of demonstrating that most of the standard alternate explanations for the decrease in crime don't hold water, and his thesis is in this case (like the others) is persuasive, regardless of how it might violate anyone's ideology.
But there just isn't very much material in this book. There are only six topics discussed, of which the link between abortion and crime is one. Another of the six is the influence of people's first names on their ultimate economic or educational success - and after about 30 pages, he comes to the conclusion that there is no link!
After only 191 pages, the book is padded with "Bonus material," which begins with an almost embarrassing puff piece that co-author Dubner wrote about Levitt when he first met and interviewed him. The rest of the "Bonus material" is a collection of columns and blogs written by Levitt, and a large portion of it covers the same topics that were covered in the 191 pages of the book proper.
There just isn't much substance here. I read the entire book on a non-stop flight from Nashville to Las Vegas, and still had time for a nap. It's a mildly diverting read, but not particularly thought-provoking, and certainly not challenging, for the intelligent reader.
Book Review: Outstanding
Summary: 5 Stars
A facinating exposition of the power of economic analysis - enabled by modern computing power - in solving non-traditional problems. Book Review: Good, but short.
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is mainly a primer/workbook on how to see things in terms of economic incentive.
It definitely uses a variety of examples, like No Child Left Behind testing, sumo wrestling tournaments, and others. That keeps things interesting. At times, the authors go off on completely uninteresting tangents full of mind-numbing details. I recommend skipping those sections.
If you're pretty new to economic theory, I would definitely recommend checking this book out to get a sense of very basic principles.
People follow incentives. It takes these guys a couple of hundred pages and way too many footnotes to say this, but they're pretty good at driving home the point.
Sadly, while the authors don't skimp on discussing the fluctuations of baby names (???), they made a book that's, overall, pretty short. It's deceptive in its layout: the last hundred-ish pages are actually footnotes, appendices, and, yep, baby names.
A great, engaging read most of the time, and short enough that you want to get out there and pick up a copy of Economist magazine. Seriously!
Book Review: Nice Look at Human Behavior
Summary: 4 Stars
Authors Levitt and Dubner provide a nicely readable, thought-provoking look at economics by investigating human behavior. The authors examine such questions as how hard real estate agents work for their clients, why many drug dealers live with their mothers, and how many office workers pay for their bagels under the honor system. Readers see how parental tardiness increased when a day care center began fining late parents - the modest fine healed guilt better than dented pocketbooks. We see how Chicago public schools used a built-in algorithm to catch elementary teachers that cheated on a standardized test - as a high school teacher there I remember minor temptations on a similar test we gave. Also, the authors' view that legalized abortion in 1973 led to less crime in the 1990's should inspire much debate.
One weakness is that the authors don't always document their claims (e.g., more police equals less crime). Also, President Al Gore might not agree that individual voting never matters - he lost in 2000 when a few individuals in New Hampshire and Florida that mostly preferred him to George Bush voted for Nader. Despite these flaws, this is a nice examination of human behavior, one that makes economics interesting. I hope the authors write more editions.
Book Review: 1
Summary: 3 Stars
oversold, not even close to any sensational material. I am surprised it became a bestseller...