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Freakonomics

a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Aug 03, 2017TEENREVIEWCREW rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything is a book written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner in 2006, and published in 2009. It has received a lot of praise when it was first released. Some of the awards include: Book Sense Nonfiction Book of the Year, Quill Award for Business Book of the Year, Best Book of the Year by Economist, etc. And to be honest, the book deserved it. Most of the time that I was reading it, my head was exploding with eye-opening ideas and realization. The authors' conclusions hit me like: "Oh. I never thought about why this or that could be true. But now that I do, it makes perfect sense." So what are those eye-opening ideas? Each chapter describes a new topic, as an example: “Why do we cheat? Mankind is more honest than we think it is, why there are far less criminals now then there were in the 1980s, what impact the names have on our lives, and etc.”. Some of the questions are pretty controversial and daring. For example, chapter 2 talks about how the KKK is similar to a group of real-estate agents. (the answer is much simpler than you think it is!) The most surprising finding for me in the book is Chapter 4 where the book describes all the events that led up to crime rates dropping dramatically in the US in the 1990s. While most of us, even to this day, would think that it was the police and economics that prevented the majority of crimes from happening and lowered the rates of crimes, these factors actually didn’t play such a huge part in crime rates dropping. Now, what did play the part was abortions. If the criminals aren’t born, then there is no one there to commit the crime, right? Before the 1970s, it was illegal to abort fetuses. And because of that, these kids grew up neglected and (often times) poor. That is why they would turn to crime. Freakonomics is a pretty awesome book. Even if you aren’t into economics, Freakonomics is still a good book to consider reading because it explains these super-interesting ideas simply and in a way that anyone can understand it. Rating: 5/5 @readermariacom of the Hamilton Public Library Teen Review Board A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything was a book that was both interesting as well as humourous. If you’re looking for a fascinating read that uses statistical analysis to connect what are seemingly unrelated topics, then this is the book to read. They answer unusual questions such as “Why do drug dealers still live with their mothers” and “What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?”. It is a quick read that makes users think outside of the box and use data to answer these questions. However, the book mainly deals with sociology. Some of the data used is not very reliable and despite the authors preaching about reliable and thorough statistical analysis, they still use the data. The book presents the statistics as accurate and that the conclusions are reliable, but in reality it is not. If you are looking for a pop science and fun read, then this is a great read. However, do not be misled by the content of the book as it seems to be presented as fact when in reality a lot of the analysis and conclusions can be questioned. I would rate it 3/5 stars. @SuperSilk of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library