I just added another book to my shopping list: SuperFreakonomics
I am a big fan of the original Freakonomics book. I like new and interesting points of view, backed up by hard data. Freakonomics delivered by discussing stuff ranging from the affect of legalized abortion on crime rates to the economics of drug dealing to cheating in sumo wrestling – fun stuff, right?
Certainly it was more fun than reading about how marginal tax rates impact government tax revenues or how trends in unemployment claims correlate with stock-market performance. Economics doesn’t have to be boring!
SuperFreakonomics looks like it’s following its predecessor with fun topics like:
- How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?
- Why are doctors so bad at washing their hands?
- How much good do car seats do?
- What’s the best way to catch a terrorist?
- Did TV cause a rise in crime?
- What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?
- Are people hard-wired for altruism or selfishness?
- Can eating kangaroo save the planet?
- Which adds more value: a pimp or a Realtor?
What I like about Freakonomics is that it is apolitical. Both the right and left sides of the aisle routinely manipulate data for political means – so it’s fun when data blows up a controversial issue in hardliners’ faces.
To read more about these books, follow these links:
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (P.S.)
