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From Publisher's Weekly:
Forget your image of an economist as a crusty
professor worried about fluctuating interest rates:
Levitt focuses his attention on more intimate
real-world issues, like whether reading to your
baby will make her a better student. Recognition by
fellow economists as one of the best young minds in
his field led to a profile in the New York Times,
written by Dubner, and that original article serves
as a broad outline for an expanded look at Levitt's
search for the hidden incentives behind all sorts
of behavior. There isn't really a grand theory of
everything here, except perhaps the suggestion that
self-styled experts have a vested interest in
promoting conventional wisdom even when it's wrong.
Instead, Dubner and Levitt deconstruct everything
from the organizational structure of drug-dealing
gangs to baby-naming patterns. While some chapters
might seem frivolous, others touch on more serious
issues, including a detailed look at Levitt's
controversial linkage between the legalization of
abortion and a reduced crime rate two decades
later. Underlying all these research subjects is a
belief that complex phenomena can be understood if
we find the right perspective. Levitt has a knack
for making that principle relevant to our daily
lives, which could make this book a hit. Malcolm
Gladwell blurbs that Levitt "has the most interesting mind in America," an invitation
Gladwell's own substantial fan base will find hard
to resist.
Copyright © Reed Business Information,
a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights
reserved.
the Authors
Steven D. Levitt, Professor of Economics at The University of Chicago
Stephen J. Dubner, Author and Journalist
Profile in Literature Resource Center, Thomson Gale 2006
Reviews & Articles
Stephen Dubner (2003), New York Times
Magazine, The Economist of Odd Questions: Inside the Astonishingly
Curious Mind of Steven D. Levitt
Profile of Steven Levitt in the Financial
Times, 23 April 2005
"When Numbers Solve a Mystery," Book Review from the
Wall
Street Journal
"Oops-onomics" Book Review from
The Economist, December 3, 2005.
"Our Days Are Numbered," Book Review from the
Washington Post, by Gregg Easterbrook. May 1, 2005.
"Super Freak," Book Review from
The New Republic, by Cass R. Sunstein. July 25, 2005.
"A Discussion About a New Book About Economics," Transcript from
The Charlie Rose Show, July 6, 2005
Podcasts
The Penguin Podcast Listen to an excerpt from the book.
Stephen J. Dubner's interview with The Real Deal
Steven D. Levitt's interview with the San Francisco Chronicle [11:03 minutes]
Reading Groups
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