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: hard core christians wont like this book
Summary: 4 Stars
Seeing how succesful this book has become, economics is becoming to the eyes of society less dry and more understandable. I have always seen economics like that, permeating everything and not just covering GDPs and inflation.
In one chapter that will shock and evangelist and hard core christians, will explain the reasons why crime dropped in the US in the 90s. In another it will show how the economics principles are also watched carefully by criminal organizations.
What you might gain with this book? Entertaiment at least. Perhaps you will question more the flawed statistics we read and many assumptions. And maybe you will began liking economics.
I think this book will be very imitated in the future, maybe its already happening.
Book Review: Entertaining
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this book to be very entertaining. It was interesting to learn about subjects that I don't know much about (e.g. sumo wrestling). However, I did not always agree with the assumptions that the authors used when making their point. To me, this book's value was to give me some interesting party triva. It wasn't an earth shattering, paradigm shifting work. This book is just another example that you can prove anything with statistics. Again, it was an entertaining read, just don't take it too seriously.Book Review: Still Relevant
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a bit late in reading this presentation of statistical daisy-chains, but I believe it is worth a read beyond being 'current' on hip business books. My principal take-away from Freakonomics is the reminder that causality of behavior or outcome is not on a one-to-one ratio with inputs. This of course means that if you have a unique understanding (or narrowly held understanding) of some dynamic in your company's market, it can be exploited in ways that are atypical and can drive disproportionate returns. Its helpful to occasionally read this sort of perspective changer, regardless of publishing date. Book Review: Just Plain Fun
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great book. If you enjoy the human sideshow and how the workings of economic systems reflect human nature, you will enjoy this tremendously. Highly recommended.Book Review: Freakonomics vs. Cliff Notes
Summary: 5 Stars
What do Cliffs Notes and Spark Notes have in common with the book Freakonomics? Both do an unbelievable job of making the complicated and mundane appear accessible and understandable. Those who feel apprehensive and gain a sense of anxiety at the utterance of the words "economics" and "statistics" need not fear the way that Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner tackle many pressing issues in today's society. Their ability to put complicated math and statistics into layman's terms makes this book a delightful and quick read.
Levitt and Dubner make fascinating comparisons and ask intriguing questions that challenge conventional wisdom and demonstrate the difference between an ordinary person's world view and an economist's world view. These comparisons and questions include, but are not limited to
* What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?
* How is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents?
* Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?
* Where Have All the Criminals Gone?
* What Makes a Perfect Parent?
Using facts and statistics, Levitt and Dubner use an economic world viewpoint to answer these questions.
Although at times the book does stretch the imagination, Levitt and Dubner do present compelling arguments on the topics they present. The narrative nature of the book does not overwhelm the reader with statistics and graphs, but instead paints a picture with numbers and rational arguments that are continually reiterated throughout the book. Readers my not agree with all of Levitt's and Dubner's conclusions, but they will find upon completion of the reading that the two author's provide a paradigm shift in thinking.