Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything - Hardcover

Steven D. Levitt; Stephen J. Dubner

4.01

850,612 ratings by Goodreads

9780713998061: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713998067 ISBN 13: 9780713998061

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2005

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Modern life can be baffling and chaotic. Is there any way of making sense of it? The answer, explains groundbreaking thinker Steven Levitt, lies in economics. Not ordinary economics, but freakonomics. It is at the heart of everything we see and do and the subjects that bedevil us daily: from parenting to crime, sport to politics, fat to cheating, fear to traffic jams.
In Freakonomics Levitt turns conventional economics on its head, stripping away the jargon and calculations of the 'experts' to explore the riddles of everyday life and examine topics such as: how chips are more likely to kill you than murder or a terrorist attack; why sportsmen cheat and how fraud can be spotted; why violent crime can be linked not to gun laws, policing or poverty, but to abortion; why a road is more efficient when everyone travels at 20mph; how the name you give your child can give them an advantage in later life; and what really causes obesity epidemics. Ultimately, he shows us that economics is all about how people get what they want, and what makes them do it.
Asking provocative and profound questions about human motivation and contemporary living and reaching some astonishing conclusions, Freakonomics will make you see the familiar world through a completely original lens.

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Review:

‘A phenomenon ... their approach has won the book a cult following’ -- Observer

‘A sensation ... you’ll be stimulated, provoked and entertained. Of how many books can that be said?’ -- Sunday Telegraph

‘Freakonomics reads like a detective novel ... has you chuckling one minute and gasping in amazement the next’ -- Wall Street Journal

‘The book is a delight; it educates, surprises and amuses ... dazzling’ -- Economist

‘Total controversy ... Levitt has shocked the world’ -- Sunday Express

From the Back Cover:

More Than 4 Million Copies Sold Worldwide
Published in 35 Languages

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?
What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?
How much do parents really matter?

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He studies the riddles of everyday life--from cheating and crime to parenting and sports--and reaches conclusions that turn conventional wisdom on its head. Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They set out to explore the inner workings of a crack gang, the truth about real estate agents, the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, and much more. Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, they show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives--how people get what they want or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing.

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