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...
... middle of paper ...
...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.
On the front cover of Freakonomics, the subheading reads, “A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything,” which is the purpose of the book. The economist Steven Levitt and the author Stephen Dubner wrote this book using several rhetorical devices to achieve that purpose. A few of those devices, style, ethos, pathos, and logos, were prominent within the book and helped to convey the message and purpose well.
This documentary Lockdown: Gang vs. Family by Gail Mitchell (2007) was a good way to prove the sociological theories that were mentioned in this paper. After reading more about the theories, I applied them to my life and my peer’s lives and it could be a proven fact for everyone and not just criminals. It is just more applicable
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.
Revealing the hidden side of life in clarity, Freakonomics draws in all economists with unmentioned assumptions which are upheld with reasoned correlation, bonding subjects that unveil misconceptions, concluding on economic pattern limitations. Effectively, they lead their audience on their conviction route as smoothly as possible. Nice job on not screwing the map up. Allowing them to achieve their goals, this was to change people’s views. By the time a person puts down Freakonomics, they have been led to conviction about all their claims because Dubner & Levitt know that in order to change someone else’s way of thinking you must change your own.
" Abortion and the Constitution: Reversing Roe v. Wade Through the Courts. Horan, Grant, Cunningham, eds., pp. 113-117. Washington, D.C. - The. : Georgetown University Press, 1987.
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.
January 22, 1973, a monumental ordeal for all of the United States had come about, which was that abortion was legalized. It was the Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade that made us take a turn into this political issue. In this case Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) was an unmarried woman who wasn’t permitted to terminate her unborn child, for the Texas criminal abortion law made it impossible to perform an abortion unless it was putting the mother’s health in danger. Jane Roe was against doing it illegally so she fought to do it legally. In the court cases ruling they acknowledged that the lawful right to having privacy is extensive enough to cover a woman’s decision on whether or not she should be able to terminate her pregnancy.
Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 2006. Print.
The debate of abortion continues to be a controversial problem in society and has been around for many decades. According to Jone Lewis, “In the United States, abortion laws began to appear in the 1820’s, forbidding abortion after the fourth month of pregnancy” (1). This indicates that the abortion controversy has been debated far back into American history. Beginning in the 1900’s, legalized abortion became a major controversy. In 1965, all fifty states in the United States banned abortion; however, that was only the beginning of the controversy that still rages today (Lewis 1). After abortion was officially banned in the United States, groups such as the National Abortion Rights Action League worked hard on a plan to once again legalize abortion in the United States (Lewis 1). It wasn’t until 1970 when the case of Roe (for abortion) v. Wade (against abortion) was brought...
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 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.
In the year March 1970, a woman dubbed Jane Roe took federal action against Texas abortion laws. These laws prevented Roe from terminating her pregnancy because abortions were only allowed in the scenario that the fetus was harming the life of the mother (Rosenbaum 63). Because Roe wasn’t in any way harmed by her pregnancy, she could not get an abortion. “Roe believed that TX statutes were unconstitutionally vague and that they abridged her right of personal privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments” (Rosenbaum 64). She wanted an abortion done professionally in a clean and safe environment (Rosenbaum 63). Women before the legalization of abortion would resort to unsafe methods to terminate their baby (Tribe 113).
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)
Noonan Jr., John T. The Morality of Abortion. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971. Print.