I studied Economics in Junior College with a certain Mrs H. Tan who overflowed with the confidence that everything can be explained if only you knew the principle behind the matter. Faced with a complicated question, for e.g. why does the price of coffee go up on the first Monday of every month after a 30-day month during a recession?, she'll waltz to the blackboard with chalk in hand, rapidly draw out three graphs in quick succession, and explain just exactly why my coffee this morning cost me $1.80. Her explanation always felt close to the miraculous, and left us mere mortals with mouths slightly gaping, wondering why we didn't see it before.
Economists have that confidence about the world: everything has an explanation; you just need the right data. Steven Levitt takes this attitude along with the tools of the trade and applies it to everyday life. He manipulates exam scores; he studies long-term crime rates; he proposes audacious claims about abortion that only an Economist will dare to propose; and with one fell swoop, he overturns our smug common-sense notions about the way life is. This book has the Mrs. H. Tan effect.
If you are like me and prefer not to know too much about a book before reading it, I'll suggest you NOT visit the book blog site 'cos it gives away too much. Just go read the book. If anything, it makes great fodder for dinner conversations.
(Find it in a library here. I actually bought this one from Popular for 20% off.)
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
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4 comments:
I saw Levitt speak at a conference in Washington DC just two weeks ago. He's a very intertaining speaker although his presentation was just like his book.
...you just need the right data.
..and enough chalk. My best friend (a psychology major) used to join me in econ "just for fun," probably looking for dinner conversation fodder. ;-)
THC, maybe Levitt needs new data. :)
Gwynne, haha! Could your friend understand the lecture? Gosh I miss college and being able to gatecrash lectures. Though I doubt I would gatecrash an Econs lecture! :)
Leaving work earlier is way better than any radio show can be. I bet you'll like this book. You seem to like facts about the real world and this book is chock full of them.
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