Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner: Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Levitt is an economist who thinks outside the box. In this book, he spins some oddball ideas: how legal abortion reduces crime, how swimming pools are more dangerous than guns, the effect of "black" names for the future of the children and so on. He applies economist thinking to various subjects, often with fairly fresh results.

While he does provoke some thoughts and the New York Times journalist Dubner has written a pretty good book, somehow this doesn't entertain me quite as well as Malcolm Gladwell's books. Part of it must be the way Dubner praises Levitt in between the chapters - at least to a Finnish reader, those parts are just too egoist.

Still, Freakonomics is a hit book for a reason, and while I wouldn't suggest buying it - it's very much read and forget - reading the book isn't a waste of your time (besides, it's a really quick read), but may instead provoke some actual thinking and cause you to take new looks at old things. That's always good! [ Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything at Amazon.co.uk ] [ Freakonomics at LibraryThing ]