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Freakonomics Rev Ed CD: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything |  | Authors: Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
Publisher: HarperAudio
List Price: $34.99
Buy New: $18.99
as of 11/21/2009 07:43 CST details
You Save: $16.00 (46%)
New (15) Used (13) from $17.99
Seller: power2thepeople
Rating:  1697 reviews
Sales Rank: 23789
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Una Rev Ex
Number Of Items: 7
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5.3 x 1.6
ISBN: 0061238538
Dewey Decimal Number: 330
EAN: 9780061238536
ASIN: 0061238538
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Economics is not widely considered to be one of the sexier sciences. The annual Nobel Prize winner in that field never receives as much publicity as his or her compatriots in peace, literature, or physics. But if such slights are based on the notion that economics is dull, or that economists are concerned only with finance itself, Steven D. Levitt will change some minds. In Freakonomics (written with Stephen J. Dubner), Levitt argues that many apparent mysteries of everyday life don't need to be so mysterious: they could be illuminated and made even more fascinating by asking the right questions and drawing connections. For example, Levitt traces the drop in violent crime rates to a drop in violent criminals and, digging further, to the Roe v. Wade decision that preempted the existence of some people who would be born to poverty and hardship. Elsewhere, by analyzing data gathered from inner-city Chicago drug-dealing gangs, Levitt outlines a corporate structure much like McDonald's, where the top bosses make great money while scores of underlings make something below minimum wage. And in a section that may alarm or relieve worried parents, Levitt argues that parenting methods don't really matter much and that a backyard swimming pool is much more dangerous than a gun. These enlightening chapters are separated by effusive passages from Dubner's 2003 profile of Levitt in The New York Times Magazine, which led to the book being written. In a book filled with bold logic, such back-patting veers Freakonomics, however briefly, away from what Levitt actually has to say. Although maybe there's a good economic reason for that too, and we're just not getting it yet. --John Moe
Product Description
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? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing—and whose conclusions turn the conventional wisdom on its head. Thus the new field of study contained in this audiobook: Freakonomics. Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner 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 Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of . . . well, everything. The inner working of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The secrets of the Klu Klux Klan. What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking, and Freakonomics will redefine the way we view the modern world.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 1697
 Started at 5 stars, then... November 20, 2009
Bill O. (Philly)
Like being at a nerdy cocktail party playing "Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon" with statistics, but without the cocktails. Great hook with the speculation that legalizing abortion resulted in decreased crime rate, but downhill from there as the comparisons become more labored and tedious. Couldn't bring myself to finish it.
Ok at best November 17, 2009
Some Guy (US)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Decent but the cool title probably has as much or more to do with this books popularity than anything.
 Awesonomics November 17, 2009
D. Wacker (Los Angeles, CA USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a great book for anyone interested in economics. It takes you on a journey of unexpected correlations and defies conventional wisdom. The book shows you truths you never would of expected or thought of with bamboozling statistics and data. It is an easy, enjoyable book for ages 18-168. Also the book is not very long and keeps you entertained. Levitt and Dubner team up to be an awesome duo and they are by far some awesome economists. I high recommend it. Enough Said.
Must Own November 15, 2009
Smokey E
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Everyone and anyone should own this book. Humorous insight to the world from an economic point of view without using the wordy terminology.
A cool brain teaser November 13, 2009
Gustavas Jankauskas (Lithuania)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Want to look smart at a party? Need a perfect ice-breaker? Want to be witty and charming by "spontaneously" sharing few interesting and/but weird facts with your colleagues? This is a book for you.
It offers totally new insight to the facts that might seem to have nothing in common from the first glance, is witty and captivating - great book to relax on your free time, but still, with getting some intelectual stimulation.
My personal favourite chapter is about how names "determine" kid's future. Want to know more? You'll have to read it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 1697
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