Freakonomics is a random and interesting look at the world through the eyes of a freak economist. I don’t mean freak in a bad way, just not “normal.” That’s the part that can take a potentially boring subject like economics and make it something that I would want to read.
The book is more a collection of random, well documented research, than a sequential stream of information building towards one unifying point. The takeaway is that looking at complex economical situations from new perspectives often shows the flaws in conventional wisdom and the results you expect the data to show. Each chapter is basically an example application of that theory.
Exploring seemingly meaningless questions like “Why do drug dealers still live with their moms” and “what do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common”, Freakonomics explores the tradeoff of ecomomic, moral, and social incentives while uncovering some surprising truth in the process.
Freakonomics is a fast read that was about as entertaining as you could hope for from a book mainly about economics. As with other books that try to “blow your mind”, it’s worthy of a read if borrowed from the library, but probably doesn’t warrant being purchased because having your mind blown a second time on subsequent readings is highly unlikely.
I like when one book inspires further reading. Although I didn’t get any specific recommendations from Freakonomics, the research of Dan Ariely was referenced and his book, Predictably Irrational, is already on my list of books to read.
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