Book Review: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything.
This paper aims to present the book review of ‘Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything’ along with the main arguments, course applications and personal opinions.
The Main Arguments
The authors have given entirely different viewpoints about various economic aspects. For instance, they have compared gun with a swimming pool, sumo wrestlers and school teachers etc. In addition to this, they have revealed the misuse of power by the real estate agents, the common elements between drug dealers and high school quarterback, sudden decline in crime rates of USA after 1990s and the crucial matters concerning parents and parenting.
The authors have strongly argued that economics is fundamentally the study of enticement and incentives (Levitt). As per the economic grounds people strive to get what they really need or want. The situation becomes even more complex when the same thing is required by different individuals. These points are robustly communicated through cynical insight and storytelling. Since Steven D. Levitt has expertise in studying daily life riddles therefore he is able to consider the influencing aspects of cheating, parenting, crime and sports differently (Levitt). In Freakonomics he has reached to certain conclusions which are contradicting to the conventional economic theories. Levitt and Dubner have comprehensively explored the inside operations of crack gang. Moreover, they revealed the furtive characteristics of Ku Klux Klan. I have found the description of Real Estate Agents most interesting as it indicates the importance and power of information. The authors have explicitly explained that how the expe...
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...ave been secured while on the other hand the crime rate in USA could also be reduced. Murdering an innocent unborn human being is no way a reason behind the successful crime reduction in USA.
However, still in order to get convinced over the Roe’s case study given in the book I would be requiring more facts and figures about the court hearings and how the case was preceded. Since abortion is not a simple matter which the USA government can sanction easily therefore there must have been some other incidents. These might help us in further understanding of the case’s relationship with economic theories and especially the reduction in crime across America in the last decade. In addition to this supplementary referencing to some other cases regarding abortion in world’s history will better facilitate me agreeing to this particular point raised by the authors.
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Show MoreIn the second part of the twentieth century, women’s rights once again gained a lot of momentum. The women’s liberation movement was born out of women civil right activists who were tired of waiting for legislative change for women’s rights. Even though women are being recognized more in society, they still face difficult issues. Sexism –especially in the workforce –is becoming a major issue, birth control pills are still not popular, and abortions are frowned upon in society. The case Roe v. Wade is about a woman with the fake name of Jane Roe who wanted an abortion but the state of Texas would not let her unless her life was in danger. She sued the district attorney of Dallas County saying that it violated the right to privacy under the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th Amendments. Usually, some arguments for being against abortions are because it is like killing a life, religious reasons, and less chance of future pregnancies. Some arguments that approve abortion are the rights of privacy and the mother to make her own decision. I decided to pick the landmark case Roe v. Wade because there are many ways to argue for and against abortions, so I wanted to give it an overarching view before I personally pick a side. Roe v. Wade is a significant case because it shows how rights in the Constitution do not have to be explicitly mentioned for it to implement and the change in abortion laws that affect women.
The 1973 Roe v. Wade is one of the most controversial cases in United States in not only the abortion issue, but also in American government. In this paper, I will discuss the case, argument, the decision, and the significance of Roe V. Wade. The Historic decision made by the United States Supreme Court in 1973 legalized abortion on a federal level. As the federal court- particularly the circuit courts and the Supreme Court have become more important in determining American public policies. (Greenberg 435) Now more than thirty years later people all over the country are trying to overturn the decision as well as striving to keep in intact.
Abortion is one issue that has polarized a nation and the battle lines were drawn forty years ago with time not easing the tensions between the groups on both sides of this issue. The abortion debate started in the middle of the 1800’s. However, the issue came to a head in 1973 with the Supreme Court ruling of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion and the fight has been ongoing ever since. This paper aims to show how the Roe V Wade court case came about and the resulting arguments for and against abortion that ensued.
"Abortion: In Law, History & Religion." Childbirth By Choice Trust. May 1995. 26 April 2004. <http://www.cbctrust.com/abortion.html>
The author begins his ethnography by giving us insight of the crime rate in the 1990s. He described this subject as the “age of drive-by shootings, drug deals gone bad, crack cocaine, and gangsta rap” ( ) that dominated the talk of the time. This type of ideology led our society to believe that we should put massive
Abortion has been a complex social issue in the United States ever since restrictive abortion laws began to appear in the 1820s. By 1965, abortions had been outlawed in the U.S., although they continued illegally; about one million abortions per year were estimated to have occurred in the 1960s. (Krannich 366) Ultimately, in the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, it was ruled that women had the right to privacy and could make an individual choice on whether or not to have an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. (Yishai 213)
On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, made decisions of Roe vs. Wade and declared all state abortion statutes to be morally wrong. The majority of the Court first found that Jane Roe, had challenged the Texas abortion statute, even though she already had given birth. The Court then later found that women and doctors had a right to privacy and it interfered with meaningful state regulation of abortion. The majority saw this and studied this for the history of abortion and ...
Noonan Jr., John T. The Morality of Abortion. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971. Print.
Abortion’s legalization through Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade, has allowed for one in three pregnancies to end in abortion. This means that 1.5 million abortions are performed in the United States each year (Flanders 3). It ranks among the most complex and controversial issues, arousing heated legal, political, and ethical debates. The modern debate over abortion is a conflict of competing moral ideas and of fundamental human rights: to life, to privacy, to control over one's own body. Trying to come to a compromise has proven that it one cannot please all of the people on each side of the debate.
The world is an increasingly tricky, sticky place. Mysteries present themselves every day; and in every way, people are puzzled and intrigued and on the hunt for answers. Steven D. Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics with Stephen J. Dubner, is one such person. Devoting his professional life to cracking the mysteries of seemingly mundane, and sometimes trivial, economic in daily life, Levitt jumps from assumption to decision, connecting dots in sometimes genius, sometimes haphazard, ways, and forming conclusions that occasionally defy conventional thought. Freakanomics gifts readers with several ideas to chew on and challenges deeply rooted thoughts.
... of stronger legislation regarding abortion rights, American should spend more resources developing stronger regulations on the care of unwanted children after they are born. American has too many unwanted children living in abusive homes and most of these children are physically, sexually and mentally abused daily.
As a final point given, this information should inform readers more about moral effects of abortions. Therefore, whomever may be concerned should read this paper. In fact, readers will learn more about what’s going on around their states. The legalization of abortion still continues to exist; however, the government may come to a conclusion soon.
Levitt, Steven D, and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. New York: William Morrow, 2005. Print.
Crime is not something unique to one country or culture, it can be found all over the world and has been present for as long as history goes back. There are many theories on why crimes happen ranging from individual responsibility to responsibility of societal influences. However, some countries suffer from much higher crime rate than others and the United States of America happens to be such a country. This paper will look at how societal influences, more specifically, the concept of the American Dream, affect crime rates in the country. It is the idea that the basis of striving towards economic success, seen in the foundational ideas of the American Dream, is the very same factor that allows the nation’s crime rate, such as in white collar
In this paper I will be arguing in favor of Judith Jarvis Thomson view point on abortion. I am defending the use abortion and only in the first trimester. I will consider Don Marquis objections of the practice but ultimately side with Thomson.