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Freakonomics- A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

4 stars (Entertaining and a bit educational) - I enjoyed reading this; I'm not sure I believe all of it. There was no methodology presented, so I have to take the author's word that he did the research. And, isn't that what this book is about, NOT taking somebody's word that a presented fact is the absolute truth? The information is interesting, but I found the underlying message, that what we accept as the truth isn't always that simple or easy, far more intriguing and frightening. Take the theories with a grain of salt, and enjoy the imaginative, accessible view of economics. Who knew economics could be fun? 5 stars (Too long, too short - the critics need a unifying theme) - First, let me start off by explaining that my exposure to this material was via a CD Audio book that I checked out at the library. The book is read aloud by Stephen Dubner (one of the authors) and he does a fine job of reading it. Plus, since he knows exactly where to put the inflection in his voice, some of the subtle wordplay becomes more apparent as you hear him speak it. I think that may have also given me a better understanding of the points the authors were trying to make - points that many of the critics of this book have either missed or misunderstood. I have a stack of books next to my bed that I read every evening. This audio version allowed me to complete another book during otherwise wasted time on my commute to and from work. One of the best reasons to listen to the audio version comes in the last chapter where they are discussing names. It is certainly more difficult to keep track of the various lists of names without having them written down in front of you, but you do get the advantage hearing the pronunciation of a few of them. Three of the names are rather amusing to hear aloud especially compared to their spelling. To me, it was definitely a better way to spend my commute to work rather than listening to some insipid disk jockeys on the radio. But after I retu...
PerfectBound :: Business & Economics-Economics - Theory :: Stephen :: J Dubner :: Steven Levitt :: :: Freakonomics- A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything