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

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : William Morrow, c2006.Edition: Revised & expanded edDescription: xv, 320 p. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 0061234001
  • 9780061234002
Subject(s):
Contents:
An explanatory note -- Preface to the revised and expanded edition -- 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 material added to the revised and expanded 2006 ed..
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.
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Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 330 L666 Checked out 05/25/2024 33111007604024
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The legendary bestseller that made millions look at the world in a radically different way returns in a new edition, now including an exclusive discussion between the authors and bestselling professor of psychology Angela Duckworth.

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? Which should be feared more: snakes or french fries? Why do sumo wrestlers cheat? In this groundbreaking book, leading economist Steven Levitt--Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and winner of the American Economic Association's John Bates Clark medal for the economist under 40 who has made the greatest contribution to the discipline--reveals that the answers. Joined by acclaimed author and podcast host Stephen J. Dubner, Levitt presents a brilliant--and brilliantly entertaining--account of how incentives of the most hidden sort drive behavior in ways that turn conventional wisdom on its head.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

An explanatory note -- Preface to the revised and expanded edition -- 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 material added to the revised and expanded 2006 ed..

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.

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