TOW #12 - Freakonomics

            Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything is a non-fiction book about economics. It takes a look at peculiar questions that the average person wouldn’t ask, and gives the readers a clear answer. These questions include “what is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?” Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner wrote Freakonomics. Steven D. Levitt is an American economist who is best known for his work in crime, particularly on the link between crime rates and legalized abortion. Stephen J. Dubner is an American journalist who is best known for Freakonomics, although he has written several other books and articles.

            This book is written to the average American. The authors bring up American crime rates as well as popular names in America. They also explain foreign concepts such as Sumo Wrestling. Freakonomics was written in 2005, and aims to inform people about unrealized economic concepts such as how the KKK compares to real estate agents.

            Dubner and Levitt utilize irony in their book. When they explain unrecognized comparisons such as how Sumo Wrestlers compare to schoolteachers, they use irony because they display the difference between what appears to be and what is really true. This has the effect of showing readers the importance of thinking outside the box.

            The author’s purpose in Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything is to display the unrecognized similarities between seemingly random things. I learned that legalized abortion rates directly affect crime rates, and that Sumo Wrestlers are related to schoolteachers. I believe that Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner did an excellent job getting me to open up my mind by explaining these strange correlations.