Belated Book Review....

Seeing as I was the last person in the world to read "Freakonomics" (not pictured), I thought I'd write a review about it.

It's one of those books that makes you feel smart, without actually having to be smart.

It's quasi-intellectual beach-reading.

I totally get why it was a best-seller.
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From an economists point of view, reading the work of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner is efficent.

Here's why.

You can gain all of the BENEFIT of their research, without having to incur ANY of the COST.

It's a nice little system.
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They make everything sound so simple.

They make economics sound so approachable and logical.

Everyone lies, but numbers don't.

That's one of their central themes.

I would counter with 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
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I don't know how I feel about many of their premises.

Roe v Wade (first blog reference to Wade that wasn't about Dwyane) led to less crime. School teachers cheat like sumo wrestlers.

That they are correct is far less interesting, than the fact that they are interesting.
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True story.

I had a college economics professor who was FED up with the old 'gun vs. butter' example that is used in common economics.

And so, he decided to mix it up and talk about Mozartkuglen (he was Austrian).

Did it make me understand what was on the X-axis better?

Nope.

Did I appreciate his efforts and attempt to introduce me to a new treat?

Absolutely.
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That's how I feel about this book.

I'm not a devotee to Levitt and Dubner's work.

But I appreciate the effort.

Any book that introduces critical thinking skills to the masses is a good thing.

The problem is they make it sound like economics is easy.

You don't need math or research, just ask interesting questions.

Does using Mentadent cure erectile dysfunction?

Are dyslexic children good at hopscotch?

Did the rise of Vanilla Ice's popularity coincide with the plummet of the value of the yen?

Oh how 'Freakonomics' am I???
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So yeah, I was entertained.

I liked the book.

I just think Levitt and Dubner are kind of full of it.