Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?

What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?

How much do parents actually matter?

These would possibly not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt isn’t a regular economist. He studies the riddles of on a regular basis life—from cheating and crime to parenting and sports—and reaches conclusions that turn conventional wisdom on its head.

Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning creator and journalist. They got down to explore the inner workings of a crack gang, the truth about real estate agents, the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, and a lot more.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, they show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they would like or need, especially when other people want or need the similar thing.