Freakonomics was a book released in 2005 by an economist S. Levitt and author S. Dubner. Being an economics student people ask me on a very frequent basis if I’ve read this book, which covers topics not covered by ‘traditional economics’. I sat down a few months ago and within a few days I plowed through the book. I thought it was a very good read and had a lot of really interesting points. However it applies much more to just plain old common sense then it does to economics

For anyone who hasn’t read it the book covers: Cheating as applied to teachers and sumo wrestlers... Information control as applied to the Ku Klux Klan... Economics of drug dealing... Connections between abortion and crime... And the economics of naming children

The authors tend to connect there examples to economic theory with very questionable variables. Yes children with certain names will make less money throughout there lives but that has more in common with race & naming then naming &. future output.

For example, technically I can prove that the number of speed bumps on a street determines the price of a house residing on that street. This is possible because houses on side streets are more expensive then ones on main roads. However, this is only a correlation not really causation, there is no real connection between the two. This is the same problem I have with the book, they make connections which are true, but in reality have very little to do with each other.

The book is a very entertaining read and should be bought if you enjoy thought provoking literature… However, if your looking for real economic connections this isn’t your book, it’s just entertainment.

Currently reading A Scanner Darkly still looking for a few other good books before the end of the summer.

Listening To: City And Colour - Missing

-JP