Monday, January 21, 2013

Freakonomics

Freakonomics, the non-fiction novel by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, dissects everyday life in order to find the reason behind the decisions that people make.  Prevalent throughout the book is the theory that the authors have about incentives and how they are the driving force behind the reason that people do certain things.  This book is written argumentatively and many experts have refuted its premise that economics is the study of incentives, along with the purpose of the novel, which is to draw connections between the everyday practices of life to economics.  Many people believe that the book is based in sociology or criminology.  However, the book is widely accepted to be successful in showing the association between incentives and daily activity.

Freakonomics chooses to portray its theory of incentives through very creative and unusual situations. This not only keeps the reader entertained, but it additionally allows readers to see bizarre connections that they would have otherwise missed.  For example, in sumo wrestling, a sport that is an honor to participate in Japan, is analyzed and, through the use of statistics, a strong case is made to show how the wrestlers cheat.  The book shows that in elimination bouts, the wrestler in danger beats the odds to win with a statistically significant amount.  When the two wrestlers meet again, the wrestler who was supposed to win the first time but did not, wins an overwhelmingly high number of times.  This shows the likelihood of there being corruption in sumo wrestling.  When wrestlers are facing elimination, they may bribe the other wrestler to let them win this time in exchange for a sure victory in the next meeting.  Also, the book explores in the fourth chapter the effect that legalized abortion has on crime rates.  The book argues that because the babies that are more likely to be neglected in the first place never existed, crime rates plummeted.  The connections that the book draws are clear and well-supported, which makes the authors credible to the reader.  This credibility then allows the authors to be effective in achieving their purpose because readers are willing to buy into their theory of incentives and economics in everyday life.

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