One book that I have
recently finished reading, Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen
J. Dubner, was a page-turner from the very beginning. The novel starts off with Levitt and Dubner
explaining different economic concepts, and then as the book progresses,
amassing a plethora of stories, the co-authors exemplify how such concepts are
naturally linked to the nature of the common man. A very unique tactic that the authors
utilized for the aforementioned examples is that of using outrageously random
types of people in order to make a point.
One chapter in the book even discusses the similarities of the Ku Klux
Klan and Real-Estate Agents, another comparing Schoolteachers to Sumo
Wrestlers. In one chapter of the book that sported the
ridiculous-sounding name, “Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live With Moms?” an
intrepid researcher by the name of Sudhir Venkatesh ventures into South
Chicago, his objective being to study a crack-dealing gang of statistically the
most violent neighborhood of the city. During
this trek of Venkatesh’s, one gangster, on the topic of why he is undergoing
such a dangerous lifestyle, explained that “[they] ain’t got no choice, and if
that means getting killed, well s**t, it’s what n****rs do around here to feed
their family” (94). This quote from
Venkatesh’s total of six years of continuous ghetto research is particularly
intriguing when considering all the various incentives in today’s world of
economics. There is no better reason to
do something than to do it for the sake of your life, let alone for the sake of
your family members’ lives. The concept
of incentives is thoroughly explored throughout the book by Levitt and Dubner,
along with many other economic ideas and factors, although this makes for a
great read for just about anyone who has interest in human nature—and of course
economics.
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