Freakonomics Book Review

Freakonomics is one of my favorite books of all time! So, I thought I’d do my version of the Freakonomics Book Review. This book is unconventional on many levels. This book gives you another perspective on life that you wouldn’t have thought about otherwise. Levitt and Dubner provide a refreshing twist on the butterfly effect. Throughout the book, they discuss how the concept affects our outlook on our lives in today’s world.

This is a widely entertaining book and I hope you guys pick it up as soon as possible. Let’s get to the book summary and my thoughts regarding the book!

Book Summary

The Good

Let’s discuss the good parts of the book. This book attempts to (and successfully) meld economics with pop culture. This new take on life attracted me and I couldn’t put the book down because of it. Because of that, I loved the witty takes and humorous examples to prove their points. Levitt and Dubner do a really good job of asking pretty odd but important questions. Such as: 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 matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?

Those questions may not seem related but that’s what makes this book awesome! Levitt and Dubner were able to make all of these questions relate to our everyday lives.

Freakonomics establishes the unconventional premise that morality represents how we would like the world to work. Whereas economics represents how it works. Readers of this book will indeed be armed with enough riddles and stories to seem like geniuses in front of their friends. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. This book redefines the way we view the modern world.

The Bad

Now that we have gotten the good out of the way. The only thing I will say that Freakonomics missed was that they focus a little too much on sociology and criminology rather than the economics of it all. The reason I say that’s a bad thing is that the way the book was marketed outback in 2005 was that it would change the way we see how economics works. Though you can say they did that, I will say about 80% of this book discusses the sociology and criminal aspects of our society.

My Thoughts

So, my thoughts are that it is a really good book for anyone starting in the professional world. I would highly recommend anyone starting their careers because it will open your eyes to what is happening. Levitt and Dubner ask the questions that open your eyes to another side of life. While your peers are going through life living in the status quo you’ll be making tactical moves to get ahead.

For the ones who are serious about understanding life, this is the book for you. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in reading economics, self-help, and sociology books get this book now!

Takeaways

Freakonomics is my all-time favorite book and I knew I had to do a book review on it eventually. I read this book for the first time years ago and it stuck with me. The way Levitt and Dubner account on how incentives of the most hidden sort drive behavior in ways that turn conventional wisdom on its head. I related to that. I learned throughout my professional career that as long as you know where you are in life you’ll be alright. This book opened my eyes as to how my actions affect where I am and where I will go.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a different take on business and self-help books. You’ll be excited and will have trouble putting the book down. I hope you all enjoyed my Freakonomics Book Review and if you liked this check out my other Book Reviews!