Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Kliatt, Sept, 2005 by Nola Theiss

FREAKONOMICS: A ROGUE ECONOMIST EXPLORES THE HIDDEN SIDE OF EVERYTHING. Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner. 2005. Read by Stephen J. Dubner. 6 cds. 7 hrs. Harper Audio. 0-06-077613-7. $29.95. Cardboard; content, author notes. SA

While it may seem preposterous that economics and fun can be written in the same sentence, this is actually fun to listen to. It takes the often-incomprehensible subject of economics and uses it to explain some of the anomalies of modern life. The authors cover topics that range from the significance of the names chosen by parents for their newborns to the reasons that some teachers rig their students' standardized test scores and why some Sumo wrestlers throw matches. They compare the corporate structure of drug dealers' operations to that of more traditional big businesses and explain why realtors' houses sell for more than their clients'. It all goes back to incentives, which, the authors seem to say, hold the key. Wisecracking Dubner obviously relishes telling us about how wrong the experts were about the rising crime rate and rattling off lists of "low-end" and "high-end" names until they blur into meaningless syllables. Nola Theiss, Sanibel, FL

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.