Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
This one seemed a lot more shallow than Blink. I finished the book feeling disappointed & vaguely unsatisfied. There was really nothing I hadn't already heard, though perhaps the book has been quoted so many places. The most "relevant" part of the book was the section showing how crime rates dropped in direct corrolation to the legalization of abortion. I thought of this chapter when I heard William Bennett say aborting all black babies would cut crime. That would be true, regardless of race, according to this book.
Posted by rachel at October 7, 2005 10:22 AM
I just wanted to clarify that I don't agree with Bennett's position. It seems to me that any time you remove a huge percentage of the population, it will affect crime rates (and all sorts of other stuff). Regardless of race. It seems to me that it's all a numbers game.
The mere suggestion is horrifying, though.
Posted by: Rachel at October 27, 2005 02:30 PM
Michelle and I really enjoyed this one, though we didn't have Blink to compare it to. The chapter on baby names was especially interesting to us, unsurprisingly. There's a good discussion here about why Bennett is utterly wrong in his interpretation of Levitt.
Posted by: Josh Fuller at October 7, 2005 01:42 PM