Summary Of Levitt's Freakonomics

Freakonomics is an economist’s viewpoint on the events and issues that we encounter and hear about every day. Levitt uses his many years of experience as an economist to address topics ranging from abortion to the power of information. He looks at the statistics behind each topic and makes an informed analysis, generally not following popular belief about it. Levitt foresees and counters arguments that people may have against what he is stating. His counter arguments are filled with data and statistics to make them rock solid and very hard to dispute. Levitt’s approach on the world is very different from the average person’s, he looks at everything from what statistics and data tells him. He states “The conventional wisdom is often wrong…”

His view on the world is based upon his own research and statistics that he deduces from said research. He takes the information that he finds and presents in to the audience so that they can understand it. This book analyzes many different issues and draws conclusions based off of the information Levitt found by doing intensive research of the statistics surrounding the issues of cheaters, the power of information, the importance of drugs and gangs to the economy, how abortion affects crime rates and the effects of parenting on their children and how it determines who they become. Levitt appeals to logos often when presenting information, he interprets statistics he finds from his research to back up his statements in order to make a well rounded argument. One of the things Levitt notes is that drug dealers make less than minimum wage. He then questions why gang members who sell drugs still live with their mothers. The answer is that they get payed less than the lowest paying legal jobs. To make large amounts of money in gang work, a member have to be near the top the same way that capitalist economy works. The higher up the ladder a member is the higher their yearly income is. Levitt comes to the conclusion that gangs are an essential part of the economy. He correlates the amount of people employed to stop gangs or help people get out of gang life, and comes to the conclusion that a

Clowes found after doing some research that “Law professors John R. Lott, Jr. of Yale Law School and John E. Whitley of the University of Adelaide found that legalizing abortion increased murder rates by up to seven percent.” He went on to say that the legalization of abortion is “a contributing factor to the great increase in out‑of‑wedlock births and single parent families, which in turn contribute to increased crime rates.” Crowes also found other statisticians had done research on the same subject and found that David Murray concluded “the number of crimes committed by older people dropped first.” before that of young people. If this is true, then Levitt’s claim that there was a correlation between young crime and abortion is false. Murray also found that eighteen years after abortion was legalized in other countries, the crime rate went up relative to the crime rate before abortion was illegal. Murray states, “FBI statistics showed that the murder rate in 1993 for 14‑ to 17‑year‑olds in the USA (born in the years 1975‑1979, which had very high abortion rates) was 3.6 times higher than that of kids who were the same age in 1984 (who were born in the pre‑legalization years of 1966‑1970).” Murray concluded the reason we saw a decline in violence after abortion was legalized is due to “the crack epidemic, not abortion.” Just because statistics show one thing, it