Steven D. Levitt is the economist. Stephen J Dubner is the writer. But Freakonomics is more about statistics and what to make of them than it is about economics.
The book is a truly interesting read and reminds me of John Allen Paulos' book, Innumeracy. The authors of Freakonomics claim that there is no unifying theme to the book, but I disagree. The unifying theme, just as in Innumeracy, is a theme about how people, in general, misread and misunderstand statistics and cause-and-effect relationships in society.
But before you think to yourself that statistics and math is boring and so don't read the book, think again. This book is phenomenal and is a New York Times best seller for a reason.
Levitt and Dubner use outrageous examples to bring statistics and cause-and-effect relationships to life.
Do you want to know what the Ku Klux Klan and real estate agents have in common? Read the bookEver wonder why drug dealers live with their mothers? Read the book.Is the big drop in crime in New York City attributable to Julian Fantino? This answer, as well, can be found in the book
Freakonomics is on my list of ten best books ever. I think anybody that reads it will love it just as much as I did, except maybe for Mary Rosh (Read the book to find out why Mary Rosh probably wouldn't like it).
I have one, and only one, criticism of the book. Freakonomics ends with an anecdotal story about Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber) to help visualize a certain argument. The use of anecdotes is a big reason why so many of the innumerate fail to understand statistics and cause-and-effect relationships.
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