It’s been pretty busy for me lately, so rather than publishing a normal post, today I’ll be doing something a little simpler: a book review. I know that books aren’t very big these days, but I wouldn’t be doing this if the book I had in mind wasn’t good. Today, I want to take a look at the book that sparked my personal interest in economics: Freakonomics.
Freakonomics is written by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, two economists. Together, they attempt to explain what economics is and how it is present in everything around us through bizarre examples and situations, such as professional sumo wrestling and the similarities between McDonalds (as a corporation) and street gangs from the South Side of Chicago. The colorful examples that Dubner and Levitt gave really kindled my not-so-average passion for economics because it made me realize how it truly is in everything around us. In fact, Freakonomics was the inspiration for this very blog.
Now, to the review. Obviously I’m biased, but Freakonomics is a great book. Dubner and Levitt explain economic concepts and principles very well throughout the book, making it very digestible and easy to understand for Average Joe’s like me. In fact, it’s so understandable that people with no prior knowledge of economics could understand it. It’s also really engaging — the examples that are used to explain economics are always really interesting and the most random things you could ever think of. Overall, Freakonomics is a great book, and I highly recommend reading it.
If you are interested in reading Freakonomics, you can buy a copy of it here, and if reading isn’t your cup of tea, then you can go ahead and listen to their podcast here.
Sources:
Credit to Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner for the line "The Hidden Side of Everything"
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