Customer Reviews

Freakonomics (Revised Edition)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Calling this a book on economics hasn't scared people away - with the book #3 on the Amazon.com listings and #5 here on .ca, people are clearly buying into the author's quirky insights into the world around us.

Freakonomics is an interesting collection of observations, never conceding to any agenda whatsoever. It's entertaining, but never really takes you anywhere. Personally, I would have hoped that it would at least attempt to spur interest in economics and econometric methods, but in the end it reads more like an episode of Seinfeld - a book about, well, nothing.

It's an easy read, achievable on a single rainy day, and certainly not challenging for the average reader with no economics background. But I would encourage folks who do pick it up to consider the usefulness of the correlation/causality distinction and the methods of analysis beyond the description here. Not many of you will pick up an economics or statistics text because of this, but maybe if there were more books like this which make it interesting and applicable in our daily lives, we would all have a better understanding and appreciation for our strange little world at large.

Freakonomics gets me thrown out of a lot of parties. Now that I know what really makes the world turn I cannot resist butting in on folk's conversations and putting them right.
`Zero tolerance', someone will say, `that's what cut crime in New York'.
`No it didn't', says I, `it was the 1973 legalisation of abortion that cut crime. Fewer young men means fewer young criminals.' A few dirty looks and off I go to another group.
`My estate agent is marvellous; she sold my house in no time. A little under my asking price but she got me the best deal she could'.
`No she didn't', I interrupt. `She sold your house below your asking price for a quick sale. She makes more money selling lots of houses cheaply than fewer houses for a fair price.' More unfriendly stares. Next group.
`Drug dealers are all rich, living off the backs of their victims'.
`Oh yeah? Says I, `Then why do most of them live with their moms?'
And so on until they show me the door.
Freakonomics has turned me into a know-all. It explains the real reasons things happen as opposed to the conventional thinking. Written in a style that tells you that you are among friends, Freakonomics leads you gently from a world of easy assumptions to a world of questioning. You will never be quite the same again.
My only bicker is that it is too short. Are they writing a Freakonomics II? I do hope so. Maybe they can explain why know-alls get thrown out of parties.

Bought this book, thinking it would have the case around it-it didn't. Looks old and used
Book itself is a great read. Definitely recommend reading it.

Steven Levitt is clearly a brilliant man. An intellectual that isn't afraid to rock the boat with some controversial yet well-thought ideas. The book identifies some very interesting trends and presents them in a straight-forward readable manner.

However, Levitt's ideas are not explored in enough detail to sufficiently enforce his arguments. It almost seems that the publishers have dumbed it down to the level of the ordinary person in order to sell more books. I haven't read the expanded edition, but I hope Levitt provides some of the background that is lacking in this edition.

It was a good read, but no intellectual ride. Steven Levitts has published many intriguing research pieces. The chapters in Freakonomics were simply a presentation of his recent or most interesting works. If you are interested in his studies, all of his materials are accessible on the internet in a much more detailed fashion. Freakonomics is just a table of content... not worth a buy.

I bought this book after I saw the author on the Daily show. It looked interesting enough, a bunch of random statistics that I would likely not have read elsewhere.

I was anticipating hundreds of short brief interesting factoids instead I got a couple long winded stories about Sumo wrestler corruption and crack dealers living with their parents and working at mcdonalds to pay the bills. These were interesting stories but I would have prefered a lot more of them with less filler and more raw numbers.

The book is easy to read but I would reccomend checking it out at the library before commiting to own a copy. Im trying to figure out who I can give this book to now as once you know that sumo's are corrupt theres no sence reading it a second time.

I got this book b/c of the hype and reviews. Unfortunatly it was a big disappointment. The book kept making statistical conlusions between things that really don't matter. Some of the chapeters were interesting but over all I would not recomend this book.

so i picked up this book after all the rave reviews and read it as i do most books in one sitting. Unfortunately, it didnt deliver.....a lot of their conclusions are based on statistics (stats 101 will teach anyone the unreliabilty of stats); their overview of general topics is just not general enough for me, a little bit too cynical and try hard for me. May be a generational gap.....but all in all its not a bad read....at the least it does promote thought, which is always a good thing to end with in these types of books.

What an excellent book. Crammed with interesting insights, overflowing with surprising twists. I loved it. Freakanomics was the only book that all the adults in our holiday group read - and it was by far the best for generating conversation. One of the most interesting and thought provoking books I have read for ages. Bring on Freakanomics2 please.

I heard Levitt on Bloomberg ten months ago and wanted to buy this book immediately. Unfortunately, I was on highway 287 in New Jersey, stuck in traffic during rush hour. Then every time I saw the book on a bookstand in an airport, I avoided it and chose a latest bestseller instead. Then, last week, it just happened that I finally bought the book for my west- coast six-hour flight and was pretty much expecting a "Tipping Point" kind of read. I'll tell you hands down. This book is amazing. No offence to Gladwell, Steve Levitt has definitely produced a better read than "Blink" and "Tipping Point". This book, as we already know, has introduced a new "cult" in economics. Just like how blogosphere is changing the rules of journalism, "Freakonomics" has already changed the rules of economics.

If you are reading this review and you are one of those who took so long to buy this book(like me), I'll vouch for it, just go ahead and buy this book. You will be glad that you did. It's hilarious, thought provoking, fun to read and above all will make you suspect every phenomenon that you observe everyday, including why Giuliani and Obama are popular (?). Or are they really?

N.Sivakumar

Author of "America Misunderstood: What a Second Bush Victory Meant to the Rest of the World".