Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything

Book

Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything / Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner.

Levitt, Steven D. (Author). Dubner, Stephen J. (Added Author).

Summary:

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask--but Levitt is not a typical economist. He studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life--from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing--and his conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. The authors show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives--how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In this book, they set out to explore the hidden side of everything. If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work.--From publisher description.

Record details

ISBN: 9780060731335 (pbk.)
ISBN: 0060731338 (pbk.)
Physical Description: xxvi, 315 pages ; 21 cm.
Publisher: New York : Harper Perennial, c2009.

Content descriptions

General Note:: "With new material, including an author Q & A" -- Cover.
Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: An explanatory note -- Introduction: the hidden side of everything -- What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? -- How is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real-estate agents? -- Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? -- Where have all the criminals gone? -- What makes a perfect parent? -- Perfect parenting, Part II; or : would a Roshanda by any other name smell as sweet? -- Epilogue : two paths to Harvard -- Bonus matter: The probability that a real-estate agent is cheating you ; Selected Freakonomics columns from The New York Times Magazine ; A Q&A with the authors.