Freakonomics
*A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything* Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing—and whose conclusions turn the conventional wisdom on its head. Freakonomics is a ground-breaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: Freakonomics. Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want
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An economist and a journalist team up to apply data to weird questions: cheating sumo wrestlers, real-estate agents, baby names, and the actual cause of the 1990s crime drop. Their answers are not the obvious ones.
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner have written four main books: Freakonomics, SuperFreakonomics, Think Like a Freak, and When to Rob a Bank. They also host the long-running Freakonomics Radio podcast.
Freakonomics popularizes academic research, primarily Levitt's economics work. Some specific claims have been challenged or refined since publication. The general approach of applying economic methods to non-traditional topics remains influential in popular nonfiction.
Freakonomics was written by Steven Levitt, published in 2005 by HarperTorch.
Freakonomics is 320 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Freakonomics takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Freakonomics is a standalone novel by Steven Levitt, not part of a series.
Freakonomics is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
