Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner

(review by Julie)
When I friend told me about Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner, I had never actually heard of it before. However, with 'economist' in the title and a recommendation from a friend, I couldn't resist.

When I started the book I was not prepared for how casual and enjoyable it was. I suppose I expected something akin to The Economist magazine (which I love, but never actually manage read the whole thing) or the Economics text book I assign to my students.

Instead this book is more about what data can reveal. Perhaps Freakatistics might have been a better title (but maybe economics is inherently more sexy that statistics). Levitt and Dubner simply look through numerous studies, analyze the data, and find patterns among the data. The book is written for a general audience- no background knowledge of economics or statistics is needed, so even if you think they're both boring, you'll still probably enjoy the book. (If you're a serious scholar, don't bother reading it because the speculations and the lack of peer-review will drive you crazy.)

The book was more a collection of articles than a cohesive book, but I still enjoyed it. I'm not sure it will have any lasting impact on me, but that's ok too. I give it 3 stars and gave back to my friend- no need to buy myself a copy.