Economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner apply the tools of economic analysis to a string of unlikely subjects, from cheating sumo wrestlers and schoolteachers to the hidden economics of crack dealing and the surprising link between legalized abortion and falling crime rates. Rather than advancing one grand theory, the book argues that incentives, properly understood through data, explain human behavior far better than conventional wisdom does. Along the way it dismantles assumptions about parenting, real-estate agents, the Ku Klux Klan, and the power of a first name, making the case that curiosity and rigorous number-crunching can expose the hidden side of everyday life.
Books mentioned in Freakonomics (17)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May: “One of Levitt's great-uncles, Robert May, wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer—the book, that is; another great-uncle, Johnny Marks, later wrote the song.”
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown: “'Parenting experts' make women feel like ogres if they slip out of the house to work or skip a reading of Goodnight Moon.”
The Klan Unmasked by Stetson Kennedy: “The Klan Unmasked, Kennedy's memoir of his exploits "inside" the Klan, is in fact more of a novelization than a straight nonfiction account.”
More Guns, Less Crime by John R. Lott Jr.: “His calling card is the book More Guns, Less Crime, in which he argues that violent crime has decreased in areas where law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry concealed weapons.”
The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner: “so too is Robert Heilbroner's The Worldly Philosophers (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1953), which contains memorable profiles of Smith, Karl Marx, Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, Joseph Schumpeter, and other giants of economics.”
A Matter of Taste: How Names, Fashions, and Culture Change by Stanley Lieberson: “SHIRLEY TEMPLE AS SYMPTOM, NOT CAUSE: See Stanley Lieberson, A Matter of Taste: How Names, Fashions, and Culture Change (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2000).”
The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America by Wyn Craig Wade: “Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America (New York: Simon & Schuster; 1987); and many others.”
Unusual & Most Popular Baby Names by Cleveland Kent Evans: “see also Cleveland Kent Evans, Unusual & Most Popular Baby Names (Lincolnwood, Ill.: Publications International/Signet, 1994)”
The Ultimate Baby Name Book by Cleveland Kent Evans: “and Cleveland Kent Evans, The Ultimate Baby Name Book (Lincolnwood, Ill.; Publications International/Plume, 1997).”
The Big Book of Sumo by Mina Hall: “There is a lot to know about sumo, and quite a bit can be found in these books: Mina Hall, The Big Book of Sumo (Berkeley, Calif.: Stonebridge Press, 1997); Keisuke Itai, Nakabon (Tokyo: Shogakkan Press, 2000); and Onaruto, Yaocho (Tokyo: Line Books, 2000).”
Nakabon by Keisuke Itai: “There is a lot to know about sumo, and quite a bit can be found in these books: Mina Hall, The Big Book of Sumo (Berkeley, Calif.: Stonebridge Press, 1997); Keisuke Itai, Nakabon (Tokyo: Shogakkan Press, 2000); and Onaruto, Yaocho (Tokyo: Line Books, 2000).”
Yaocho by Onaruto: “There is a lot to know about sumo, and quite a bit can be found in these books: Mina Hall, The Big Book of Sumo (Berkeley, Calif.: Stonebridge Press, 1997); Keisuke Itai, Nakabon (Tokyo: Shogakkan Press, 2000); and Onaruto, Yaocho (Tokyo: Line Books, 2000).”