I've got this but haven't read it yet. It should be good! The
abortion part is 3/4 the way down. We've discussed this before, but I
agree with the freaks: like it or not, legal abortion keeps unwanted
kids from growing up to become criminals.
Book Review
Freak-On 101
Michael Maiello, 05.13.05, 12:00 PM ET
One complaint I've always had about economists is that their topics
seem somehow separate from the real world. "Rising productivity"
sounds like good news, but it often means "people doing more work for
less money." Is that good or bad? The topic is seldom broached in the
daily wire stories that follow such announcements. Freakonomics by
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen Dubner (WM Morrow, $25.95) is an
economist's take on real-world quandaries that offers up the science
of economics as a tool for the lay reader. It's infectious, fun and,
sometimes, a bit infuriating--albeit in a good way.
The book's best topic is: If drug dealers make so much money, why do
they live with their mothers? The answer is that most drug dealers
don't make that much money. Drawing on the work of a sociology student
who spent a harrowing time in the company of a Chicago drug gang,
Levitt paints a portrait of corporate America headquartered in urban
blight. The big drug gangs have an organizational chart like
McDonald's (nyse: MCD - news - people ) according to Levitt, and--just
like the fast food giants--the people actually ringing up the burger
sales don't make nearly as much as the dons in the boardrooms. The
only difference is that a fast food job isn't as likely to get you
shot.
Levitt's data show that if you're a typical member of his Chicago drug
gang you'd be likely to endure 5.9 arrests, 2.4 nonfatal injuries and
have a 25% chance of being killed. By contrast, a worker in the most
dangerous job in America, a timber cutter, has a 0.5% chance of being
killed on the job. To add insult to injury, if you're a low-level drug
dealer you make far less than a timber cutter; you can expect to make
$3.30 an hour selling crack. Granted it's tax free, but that's cold
comfort. The gang's leader made a tax-free $100,000 per year.
So, how do you convince someone to accept a 25% chance of dying in
exchange for slave wages? "An editorial assistant earning $22,000 a
year at a Manhattan publishing house, an unpaid high school
quarterback and a teenage crack dealer making $3.30 an hour are all
playing the same game," Levitt writes, "a game best viewed as a
tournament." Winning the tournament means getting to the top of a
highly competitive field and becoming not only rich but also notable.
Losing? That's the risk these kids take.
Throughout the book, Levitt refrains from moralizing, and his politics
are entirely inscrutable. It's hard to decipher what he believes
morally and what his data show. Still, as inoffensive as he is as tour
guide, this book still has its share of controversy. For example,
Levitt examines the sharp drop in crime in the U.S. and, especially,
in the major cities during the 1990s. He debunks the usual theorizing
that a growing economy, beefed up police forces or New York mayor Rudy
Giuliani's famous "broken windows policing" tactics solved the
problem. Levitt's eyebrow raising--but entirely convincing--argument
is that legalized abortion had something to do with it. It's hard to
do justice to his nuanced argument in summary--just another reason to
read the book.
You don't have to agree with Levitt's conclusions (though I generally
do) to enjoy Freakonomics. The joy here is the joy of a good college
seminar. First, it makes you think. Then, it makes you think in new
ways. Finally, you smile broadly because the thinking is so much fun.
There's a figure in economics, sometimes derisively called "Economic
Man." This fictional character populates the thought experiments found
in any economist's academic work and most of the popular work, as
well. Economic Man responds rationally to incentives and always seeks
to maximize his position in any situation. I'm quite sure that this
concept has caused a lot of misery--real people are more complicated
than that. But Levitt has found a lot of "Economic People" in the real
world. The concept might provide an incomplete view of human behavior,
but it clearly has some use. Levitt will show you just what that is.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support
efficiency by 100%
http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49
Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:157495
Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5
Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5
Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
