Once again, authors Levitt and Dubner tackle seemingly complex, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally risqué issues through the lens of their economics training. How pimps add more value to a product than do realtors, and how both are adversely affected by the internet. Or how doctors, committed and entrusted to save lives, are often the unknowing facilitators of patient deaths. Or how throughout history, most of the world's problems are not solved with complicated and expensive technological advancements, but rather through cheap and easy solutions, and how this approach will probably be the most effective in dealing with global warming for example.
Though each chapter was interesting in its own right, there didn't seem to be an overarching theme to the book - something the authors give fair warning about in their introduction. If you were a fan of the best-selling book Freakonomics, then you'll probably enjoy this book as well.
Jim's #18: Freakonomics by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
I have a feeling Steven Levitt would be a really interesting guy to hang out with. As a young, heralded economist from Harvard, Levitt looks at life in general a little differently. He sees trends in every day life and then finds the most interesting correlations relating them together. Maybe that's the wrong word, as he does a very convincing job of advancing these relationships from mere correlation to justified cause and effect.
These aren't just your everyday pairings, either. Some of them are absolutely puzzling and really make you want to read on. Things like, How is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of Real Estate Agents? or Why Do Drug Dealers Still live with their Moms? He looks at aspects of life that other economists have missed.
I particularly liked the way he framed each of the chapters together to tell a story. From the criminal boost in the 90s via crack to the severe and unexpected decline (caused by Roe vs. Wade? He makes quite the case for it) to parenting and whether or not it matters (it does, but not in the way you think).
I'm not a big economics buff, but I do like statistical analysis that explains why we do things (I guess that's pretty much economics in a nutshell). This was a fun read, and left me chuckling at how off our usual explanations for life are.