Freakonomics Book Review
Freakonomics, a non-fiction book by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt, is something out of the ordinary. The way Levitt mixed statistics with everyday problems to find a solution, unlike those found by other field experts, helped me look at the world in a new light.
Freakonomics deals with some fascinating topics. The chapters which relate school teachers with sumo wrestlers and the Ku Klux klan with real estate agents bring an innovative, not-so-visible link between two very different sections of society. The book itself has a straightforward and easy-to-understand writing style which did an excellent job summarizing well researched statistical topics into a school-level reading book.
What I liked most about the book was the way Levitt’s research dug into human psychology and how statistical findings highlight human behavioral patterns. E.g., charging a late fee for picking up kids late at daycare only increased the number of late pickups shows a lot about human nature, and the fact that we can find all this using simple statistical tools intrigues me. The conclusions also hint towards unintended side effects of human actions, reinforcing Adam Smith’s theory. The book talks a lot about the motivations behind our actions. It takes a closer look into the causes and the results of said actions and draws a difference between them.
The book’s title — ‘A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything’ seems like a very apt description for the book. The randomness of the topics discussed makes this book stand out from others. It helped keep the book interesting as giving a tiny peek into the subject rather than going into thorough detail made it a good read for an unskilled-in-the-art reader.
In some cases, the evidence used in the book, though very convincing, felt too simplistic. The link between the reduction in abortion laws and the drop in criminal cases seems to make complete sense but is also very narrowly viewed and describes only a tiny section of a much larger picture. Levitt appears to ignore many other contributing factors that may impact the outcome.
Though the book made some persuasive points, the dependence on Adam Smith’s theories made the results hard for me to digest. Yes, Smith’s work was groundbreaking for its time, but it is heavily outdated and does not hold the same strength in today’s complex economic structures.
As a non-American, I also had difficulty relating to several of Levitt’s references and would have liked to read more about global issues. As much as the Ku Klux klan intrigues me, I found it hard to relate to such topics.
