Freakonomics

Abortion laws will always be seen as a controversial subject. In Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and John Donahue discuss the correlation between crime rate and abortion laws. They dismiss other factors such as gun control, proactive policing and increased incarceration rates and instead focus on the theory that Roe v. Wade played a greater role in crime rate fall. In 1973 Roe v. Wade ruled anti abortion laws unconstitutional. This allowed for unwanted pregnancies to be terminate. Data supports…

Lastly, in FootballOutsiders.com field goal difficulty was adjusted for altitude (Denver vs. non-Denver), temperature, and if the game was indoors. While almost all analyses looked at these environmental factors, Football Freakonomics looked at one distinct situational and psychological factor – “icing the kicker.” “Icing the kicker is when the opposing coach calls a timeout right before the kicker is about to kick the field goal in an effort to make them overthink the attempt…

The author of freakonomics, Steven Levitt, wrote the article Flesh Trade in an effort to bring awareness to the idea in monetizing our organs. He is able to effectively communicate his controversial viewpoint with credible evidence and easy to read language. Therefore, common people are able to understand his argument and form their own opinion on the matter. The purpose of discussing such a repugnant topic is made clear by the author’s mention of the people who die waiting for an organ…

In the third chapter of Freakonomics, the question that is asked is “Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?” The first phrase that is brought up is “conventional wisdom,” and economist John Kenneth Galbraith describes this phrase as information that reinforces a single person's own type of interest and well-being. Conventional wisdom is convenient and comforting, but it does not necessarily have to be. It takes a lot for people to even begin to doubt that conventional wisdom is not true…

when there is competition work is usually has a lot of efficiency. However, when something is efficient it is not always competitive. I believe that healthy competition is good and that it leads to a more efficient and effective work ethic. In Freakonomics, authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, write about competition and how people feel as they are forced under certain pressures to have a certain level of efficiency. For example, the authors write about how competitive it is for…

In the book, Freakonomics author used much real life examples to explain economics in many circumstance. Some example confused me, but some are the pretty simple. For example at the beginning “the Society of Fellows” and Nerman McCorvey wants a legal abortion is little hard to understand. But selling a house and some example is very understandable. In my opinion, morality and economic are communicant. Just like author mention Adam Smith, who wanted to be a moralist but he became an economist.…

Freakonomics Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live With Their Moms? Alexis Campbell POLS 1 Summary John Kenneth Galbraith came up with the term “conventional wisdom” which means “the enemy of the truth.” Conventional wisdom is not always true but tends to be simple. An example of conventional wisdom is advertising. Listerine convinced people that bad breath was a disease and that the only way to cure themselves from this disease was to use listerine. Another way that…

Asserting that ethics can manipulate the way people interpret situations, in their 2009 novel Freakonomics Steven D Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner identify the cause behind many socioeconomic events, contrasting seemingly unrelated topics, and then connect unthought of events to more commonly known ones, bringing out their correlation. Their purpose is to expose how the world really operates, with great influence from moral beliefs, by stripping layers from the surface of modern life in order to…

In the book Freakonomics, there are many issues that bring about discussion. While pondering on a topic that I felt I could best discuss, I looked back at chapter five in the book and decided to go with “What Makes a Parent Perfect?” Although this seems to be an easily answered question, many people have different insights on what really defines perfect parenting. When looking at a topic in the news that focuses on parenting, my attention was quickly directed to the Adrian Peterson case.…

«conventional wisdom» is not always unfair and false but it is often used as an incorrect and undisputed explanation of many social events and acts. I will give several examples to prove my point. Let us consider the case described in the book «Freakonomics» written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. In Chapter 4, called "Where Have All the Criminals Gone?", authors described the criminal situation that had developed in 1990’s in USA. The level of crimes, especially murders, was…