SuperFreakonomics by Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner
I read from the Penguin Books 2010 Edition.
Firnando Chau Review
Table of Contents:-
An Explanatory Note xiii
Introduction: Putting the Freak in Economics 1
1 How Is a Street Prostitute Like a Department-Store Santa? 26
2 Why Should Suicide Bombers Buy Life Insurance? 81
3 Unbelievable Stories About Apathy and Altruism 139
4 The Fix Is in-and It's Cheap and Simple 190
5 What Do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo Have in Common? 235
Epilogue: Monkeys Are People Too 301
Acknowledgments 309
Notes 313
Economist Levitt and journalist Dubner capitalize on their megaselling Freakonomics with another effort to make the dismal science go gonzo. Freaky topics include the oldest profession (hookers charge less nowadays because the sexual revolution has produced so much free competition), money-hungry monkeys (yep, that involves prostitution, too) and the dunderheadedness of Al Gore.
There’s not much substance to the authors’ project of applying economics to all of life. Their method is to notice some contrarian statistic (adult seat belts are as effective as child-safety seats in preventing car-crash fatalities in children older than two), turn it into “economics” by tacking on a perfunctory cost-benefit analysis (seat belts are cheaper and more convenient) and append a libertarian sermonette (governments “tend to prefer the costly-and-cumbersome route”).
The point of these lessons is to bolster the economist’s view of people as rational actors, altruism as an illusion and government regulation as a folly of unintended consequences. The intellectual content is pretty thin, but it’s spiked with the crowd-pleasing provocations—“'A pimp’s services are considerably more valuable than a realtor’s’” —that spell bestseller. (Nov.)
About the Authors
Steven D. Levitt teaches economics at the University of Chicago. His idiosyncratic economic research into areas as varied as guns and game shows has triggered debate in the media and academic circles. He recently received the American Economic Association's John Bates Clark Medal, awarded every two years to the best American economist under forty.Stephen J. Dubner lives in New York City. He writes for The New York Times and the New Yorker, and is the bestselling author of Turbulent Souls and Confessions of a Hero-Worshipper. In August 2003 Dubner wrote a profile of Levitt in The New York Times magazine. The extraodinary response that article received led to a remarkable collaboration.
While attending Appalachian State University, Stephen J. Dubner started a rock band that was signed to Arista Records. He eventually stopped playing music to earn an M.F.A. in writing at Columbia University, where he also taught in the English Department. From 1990 to 1994, he was an editor and writer at New York magazine. He has written for numerous publications including The New Yorker, Time, and The Washington Post. He is an award-winning author and journalist. He is the coauthor, with Steven D. Levitt, of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. It won the inaugural Quill Award for best business book; a Visionary Award from the National Council on Economic Education; and was named a Notable Book of 2005 by the New York Times. His other works include Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son's Return to His Jewish Family (1998), Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper (2003), and The Boy with Two Belly Buttons (2007).
