E xistence » Freakonomics: B+

Freakonomics: B+ December 25, 2005

Posted by AkumAPRIME in : Books , trackback

by Levitt and Dubner.

This was a good book. I killed it in a day. The last section on names bored me, but other than that it was interesting. I give it a B+ for those of you who think in single letters and math symbols.

The book claims to have no unifying theme, but it took a look at the effects of sociocultural and biological variables on the success of individuals and society. The main claim, that abortion is the cause of today’s inexplicable crime rate drop, is really amazing, and makes alot of sense. I once heard that we could eliminate 90% of all crime if we froze all our 12 – 30 year old men. Similar idea I guess.

3 things it taught me:
1) DON’T let your real estate agent con you into an early sale (they leave their houses on market 10 days longer than yours).

2) More police == less crime.

3) Getting rich is important on multiple levels (child education, attracting women, etc) and people will cheat to get there… But usually won’t steal bagles.