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S'està carregant… Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (2005)de Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner (Autor)
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Books Read in 2016 (1,221) Unread books (251) » 17 més Top Five Books of 2019 (299) Books Read in 2019 (2,855) Books Read in 2018 (3,668) 2014 (4) 2000s decade (87) To Read List (1) Unshelved Book Clubs (88) Libertarian Books (93) LT picks: Blue Books (189) No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. It's an interesting read, although the title may be a bit misleading. There's actually very little economics in it, most of which is difficult to verify. Interesting read, nevertheless. Steven D. Levitt is an economist who finds correlations between seemingly unrelated things, using statistics and data as evidence. For sure, that means this book covers some interesting subjects and provides a lot of food for thought. However, on the whole, I thought the book delved only very shallowly into the topics of exploration. I get the sense the book was put together very quickly and without much effort. Levitt himself states that he didn't actually want to write a book originally and it shows as each chapter seems to skim the surface of its topic, when there could have been far more investigation into it. The book is very very light on the actual statistical data as well, which makes its arguments less solid. I can't help but compare this to Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, which is very much in the same vein as both books use a variety of more anecdotal data to make their points, all the while weaving together a picture of the hidden connections behind the workings of reality. Maybe it was due to reading Outliers as an audiobook (it was Gladwell himself who narrated it and you can clearly hear his passion about the subject matter), but this book felt really superficially-constructed, like the authors just wanted to get it out of the way. I thought some of the things covered in Freakonomics were obvious already-- who really believes drug dealers live glamorous lives? or that that real estate agents would put in the same amount of work selling a client's house compared to their own house? Really, the most interesting things I learned from this book were not in fact directly related to the book's subject matter but little tidbits of tangential info like how childish and bizarre the Ku Klux Klan's inner workings were (Imperial Wizard and Grand Dragon being some Klan titles for higher ranking members-- hilarious!). I guess in the end, I didn't really find this to be an eye-opening book-- the conclusions it made about parenting, sumo wrestlers and violent crime were a lot less freaky than the book's summary seem to suggest. Finally-- was it really necessary to include excerpts from Dubner's article on Levitt in the book? Every chapter is preceded by a few paragraphs essentially proclaiming how brilliant and intelligent and amazing Levitt is. There is really no need to tell us. If he is as brilliant as Dubner thinks he is, then the strength of his ideas will show in the book and us readers will be able to make make that judgement for ourselves when we read it. Interesting book which shows many examples where common wisdom is just not supported by reality. Awesome book. I wouldnt of read if i didn't find it in an op shop, very glad that I did. Makes such complicated relationships between seemingly unconnected events seem simple. Onto superfreakonomics next.
Economists can seem a little arrogant at times. They have a set of techniques and habits of thought that they regard as more ''rigorous'' than those of other social scientists. When they are successful -- one thinks of Amartya Sen's important work on the causes of famines, or Gary Becker's theory of marriage and rational behavior -- the result gets called economics. It might appear presumptuous of Steven Levitt to see himself as an all-purpose intellectual detective, fit to take on whatever puzzle of human behavior grabs his fancy. But on the evidence of ''Freakonomics,'' the presumption is earned. The book, unfortunately titled Freakonomics, is broken into six chapters, each posing a different social question. Levitt and Dubner answer them using empirical research and statistical analysis. And unlike academics who usually address these matters, they don't clutter the prose with a lot of caveats. They just show you the goods. Freakonomics is about unconventional wisdom, using the raw data of economics in imaginative ways to ask clever and diverting questions. Levitt even redefines his definition. If, as he says, economics is essentially about incentives and how people realise them, then economics is a prospecting tool, not a laboratory microscope. Pertany a aquestes sèriesFreakonomics (1) Pertany a aquestes col·leccions editorialsPenguin Celebrations (33) Contingut aFreakonomics Set - Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (Signed Edition - Easton Press); Super Freakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance; Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain de Steven D. Levitt Té la seqüela (sense pertànyer a cap sèrie)Ha inspiratTé una guia d'estudi per a estudiants
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. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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Though he takes a broader view and also accesses more data than what is often available, he, like others he is almost mocking, makes grand pronouncements about what the statistics say. Statistics aren't worth much in my opinion and can be read in so many ways, taking various things in to account and leaving others out often in order to get the result you want/expect.
Writing: Each chapter asked a question and the answer often involved many stats. It was a bit complicated to follow in audio format as he began some topics and wouldn't finish them until a later chapter.