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It is all how you look at it: If you are an economist you will find this to be dribble and if you are a college-prep teenager you will find this life changing. We teach financial education to teenagers everyday and we use some of these topics as a way to introduce macroeconomic sized questions to high school seniors. It is a nice clean way to string a series of individual items that seemed unrelated into a new picture. That is what teaching macroeconomics is really about. Besides, getting most people to sign on for theoretical conversations is not very likely and this is just wacky enough to engage a classroom, a party, or a book club. This is a must-read for POP culture anyway. Here is our one stop statement: It is worth reading, but it is not here to make you into Einstein; it is just here to make the average human brain function and follow along a topic at a macroeconomics level. RICH CHICKS specializes in financial education for women and we read hundreds of books on personal finance every year! We have left many book reviews all over this site.Read full review
The book was great. I enjoyed the simplistic style in which the authors wrote the book. While it was apparent that they were intelligent and knew their stuff, it was still presented in a manner in which one could understand. There was no talking over anyone's head. The far out comparitive examples that on the surface were completely non-related were stimulating. The authors seemed to hem up the information rather nicely and convince one that sumo wrestlers and teachers really DO have some things in common. The last chapter with the names was boring to me, I wish that there were a way to have summarized that information without so many lists, text, etc. Also, regardless of what your report states, you can only tell how difficult it is to get a job with a non-traditional name if you have the experience and frustration of realizing that you need to put a 'version' of your name on a resume so that you can get hits on a job search. The very WEEK that I put Y.J. on my resume instead of Yashica - the hits came IN!Read full review
Freakonomics was a very quick read. I bought it because a nursing instructor had told me that the authors discuss why drug dealers remain poor. It piqued my interest. The whole book is organized like a series of short stories, but each story has merit and looks at each unique situation through a "rouge economist's" lens - which was neat. (E.g. Do "Black" names vs. "White" names deter managers when viewing a resume.)I have recommended it to friends. I believe I gave it a "Good" rating instead of "excellent" because at times it got a bit long and boring. However, this does not characterize the book by any means! I believe I purchased it for $7 + shipping and that was worth the cost for me. As a student who was fairly put off by economics in general - and wanted it as a pleasure read before bed - I would say it is definitely worth checking out.Read full review
Freakonomics was written by two very intelligent, informed, and knowledgable academic experts in the economic research field. They also follow what I believe was Einstein's definition of true genius, and that is to explain a debatable, fluid, and complex topic in simple enough terms that a non academic economic novice can absorb and retain this relevant information and feel better informed about the ways human nature really works. using incentives and penalties, those in authority can encourage certain behaviors and discourage others. What are the real triggers that influence and motivate our behaviors?Steven Levitt only asks and analyzes 6 questions. With many more intriguing inquiries concerning human nature, if his readers ask for his thoughts on other questions and he chooses to comply with those requests, he probably left plenty of room for several sequals pending positive reception of Freakonomics. He thinks ouside the box, answering some old questions in a new way and thinking of some questions so new few, if any, have ever asked them before. Ways and means of acheiving an end, adjusting a strategy to a changing circumstance, and common methods for attainning or maintaining a competetive advantage can be strikingly similar in the most unusual and unlikely of oraganizations. Dr. Levitt can open your mind to think about the world from a fresh, unique, and sensible perspective that the avearage Joe can understand. I think I remember him claiming NASA tried to recruit him to help with the rather emabarrassing human errors in the Shuttle Prpgram and the CIA wants his thoughts on where best to look for Osama bin Laden. I think I also heard either Rove, Rice, or Powell wanted him consultig for the Bush Administration. Needless to say, he is highly sought after. He class at Berkeley is so popular, they instituted a lottery to determine who gets admitted to the class any given semester. He makes Economics interesting, germaine to our daily lives, and even enlightening.Read full review
Dubner and Levitt were in my city on a book promo tour. Although I missed their presentation, I purchased the book on E-Bay. The field of economics can be a bit overwhelming or dry for some but I found their explanations about certain trends (murder rates, abortion) to be really insightful. I loved the chapter on what you name your child and how it can affect his/her career path or social standing.
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