Freakonomics
I recently read Freakonomics, amazing book!!! so here it goes....The book is called Freakonomics because unlike most other economics books there is no underlying theme in the book. The author follows all the freakish ideas he gets and tries to explore the truth behind them, and thus the name Freakonomics. Also, if it was called micro conomics , i am sure I wouldnt have read it and you wouldnt be interested in knowing about it either.
The book is so interesting because of the questions the author asks and on investigating the answers which come up are equally amazing.
Some of the interesting facts he brings out are simple things based on that data which are astonishing for us.
E.g. swimming pools are more dangerous than the guns for children. The numbers prove it, if you compare the number of deaths of infants caused by swimming pool with those caused by guns you would get the answer.
It is also surprising to see how a law of abortion which was passed 20 years back had an effect on the crime rate in the country and left people confused as to what caused the dip in crime when everyone was predicting real bad days ahead.
Would you not be surprised that sumo wrestlers and teachers are similar in a way, that both of them would cheat ??? Well he does prove this with numbers too
he talks about why do drug sellers still stay with their moms ? Numbers tell simply because they do not make enough money to live on their own. Then why do they risk their lives and indulge in drugs ?? well the incentive is there for that
The most interesting one is about the real estate agents and ku klux clan , and how they were takig advantage of the information to which only they had an access, and how the access to the same information can defeat them at their own game.
Well these are just a few of the examples and there are many more interesting questions he aska and the answers to them are equally interesting.
This is one book which you would surely find very stimulating and interesting !!!
Go grab a copy and you would be happy you read it
posted by Anuj @ 1:37 PM
3 Comments:
Hmm...honestly, I didnt like the book! Too much of unnecessary details, I felt.
hey Kiran, the book review credit goes to Anuj Kadyan - he is the one who has posted the review :)
P.S : do post a review of "Made in Japan"
Reading the book made me wonder about some things that we see everyday around us...for example, I'm often surprised that despite there being a measely few pink coupons in our pantry "drop box" ...the stock in the refrigerator and the chips have all but disappeared. Maybe like the "bagel man" in the book, our management is well aware of this fact and has taken it into consideration that there will be only a 97% (or even lesser?) return in providing "subsidized" stuff?
Or what about the fact that highly-skilled IT professionals still live in an apt with (sometimes) 6 others? Maybe they don't really earn that much after all?!
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