Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything / Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Levitt, Steven D.

Contributor:

Dubner, Stephen J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economics--Psychological aspects.

Economics.

Economics--Sociological aspects.

Physical Description:

xv, 320 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

Revised & expanded edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : William Morrow, [2006]

Summary:

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask--but Levitt is not a typical economist. He studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life--from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing--and his conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. The authors show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives--how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In this book, they set out to explore the hidden side of everything. If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work.--From publisher description.

Contents:

An explanatory note

Preface to the revised and expanded edition

Introduction: the hidden side of everything

What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?

How is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real-estate agents?

Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?

Where have all the criminals gone?

What makes a perfect parent?

Perfect parenting, Part II; or : would a Roshanda by any other name smell as sweet?

Epilogue : two paths to Harvard

Bonus material added to the revised and expanded 2006 ed..

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0061234001

OCLC:

73307236

Publisher Number:

9780061234002