内容説明
Cult bestseller, new buzz word...Freakonomics is at the heart of everything we see and do and the subjects that bedevil us daily: from parenting to crime, sport to politics, fat to cheating, fear to traffic jams. Asking provocative and profound questions about human motivation and contemporary living and reaching some astonishing conclusions, "Freakonomics" will make you see the familiar world through a completely original lens.
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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. 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. 50-city radio campaign. (May 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime?
These may not sound like typical questions for an econo-mist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing—and whose conclusions turn conventional wisdom on its head.
Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.
Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of . . . well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Klu Klux Klan.
What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and—if the right questions are asked—is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking.
Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.
--このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。
These may not sound like typical questions for an econo-mist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing—and whose conclusions turn conventional wisdom on its head.
Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.
Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of . . . well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Klu Klux Klan.
What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and—if the right questions are asked—is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking.
Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.
--このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。
メディア掲載レビュー
“If Indiana Jones were an economist, he’d be Steven Levitt… Criticizing Freakonomics would be like criticizing a hot fudge sundae.” (Wall Street Journal )
“Provocative… eye-popping.” (New York Times Book Review: Inside the List )
“The guy is interesting!” (Washington Post Book World )
“The funkiest study of statistical mechanics ever by a world-renowned economist... Eye-opening and sometimes eye-popping” (Entertainment Weekly )
“Steven Levitt has the most interesting mind in America... Prepare to be dazzled.” (Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and The Tipping Point )
“Principles of economics are used to examine daily life in this fun read.” (People: Great Reads )
“Levitt dissects complex real-world phenomena, e.g. baby-naming patterns and Sumo wrestling, with an economist’s laser.” (San Diego Union-Tribune )
“Levitt is a number cruncher extraordinaire.” (Philadelphia Daily News )
“Levitt is one of the most notorious economists of our age.” (Financial Times )
“Hard to resist.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )
“Freakonomics is politically incorrect in the best, most essential way.... This is bracing fun of the highest order.” (Kurt Andersen, host of public radio's Studio 360 and author of Turn of the Century )
“Freakonomics was the ‘It’ book of 2005.” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram )
“An eye-opening, and most interesting, approach to the world.” (Kirkus Reviews )
“An unconventional economist defies conventional wisdom.” (Associated Press )
“A showcase for Levitt’s intriguing explorations into a number of disparate topics…. There’s plenty of fun to be had.” (Salon.com )
“One of the decade’s most intelligent and provocative books.” (The Daily Standard )
“Freakonomics challenges conventional wisdom and makes for fun reading.” (Book Sense Picks and Notables )
“The trivia alone is worth the cover price.” (New York Times Book Review )
“An easy, funny read. Many unsolvable problems the Americans have could be solved with simple means.” (Business World )
“Economics is not widely considered to be one of the sexier sciences.... Steven D. Levitt will change some minds.” (Amazon.com ) --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。
“Provocative… eye-popping.” (New York Times Book Review: Inside the List )
“The guy is interesting!” (Washington Post Book World )
“The funkiest study of statistical mechanics ever by a world-renowned economist... Eye-opening and sometimes eye-popping” (Entertainment Weekly )
“Steven Levitt has the most interesting mind in America... Prepare to be dazzled.” (Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and The Tipping Point )
“Principles of economics are used to examine daily life in this fun read.” (People: Great Reads )
“Levitt dissects complex real-world phenomena, e.g. baby-naming patterns and Sumo wrestling, with an economist’s laser.” (San Diego Union-Tribune )
“Levitt is a number cruncher extraordinaire.” (Philadelphia Daily News )
“Levitt is one of the most notorious economists of our age.” (Financial Times )
“Hard to resist.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )
“Freakonomics is politically incorrect in the best, most essential way.... This is bracing fun of the highest order.” (Kurt Andersen, host of public radio's Studio 360 and author of Turn of the Century )
“Freakonomics was the ‘It’ book of 2005.” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram )
“An eye-opening, and most interesting, approach to the world.” (Kirkus Reviews )
“An unconventional economist defies conventional wisdom.” (Associated Press )
“A showcase for Levitt’s intriguing explorations into a number of disparate topics…. There’s plenty of fun to be had.” (Salon.com )
“One of the decade’s most intelligent and provocative books.” (The Daily Standard )
“Freakonomics challenges conventional wisdom and makes for fun reading.” (Book Sense Picks and Notables )
“The trivia alone is worth the cover price.” (New York Times Book Review )
“An easy, funny read. Many unsolvable problems the Americans have could be solved with simple means.” (Business World )
“Economics is not widely considered to be one of the sexier sciences.... Steven D. Levitt will change some minds.” (Amazon.com ) --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。
著者について
Steven Levitt, the man with 'the most interesting mind in America' (Malcolm Gladwell), is the rogue economist whose controversial ideas have caused a sensation on both sidea of the Atlantic. In Freakonomics he joins forces with Stephen Dubner, New York Times and New Yorker journalist and bestselling author of Turbulent Souls and Confessions of a Hero Worshiper, to create a gripping, revolutionary new take on the world.
--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。
