The legendary bestseller that made millions look at the world in a radically different way returns in a new edition, now including an exclusive discussion between the authors and bestselling professor of psychology Angela Duckworth. Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? Which should be feared more: snakes or french fries? Why do sumo wrestlers cheat? In this groundbreaking book, leading economist Steven Levitt--Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and winner of the American Economic Association's John Bates Clark medal for the economist under 40 who has made the greatest contribution to the discipline--reveals that the answers. Joined by acclaimed author and podcast host Stephen J. Dubner, Levitt presents a brilliant--and brilliantly entertaining--account of how incentives of the most hidden sort drive behavior in ways that turn conventional wisdom on its head.
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with more iconoclastic insights and observations in SuperFreakonomics-the long awaited follow-up to their New York Times bestseller. Based on revolutionary research and original studies SuperFreakonomics promises to once again challenge your students' view of the way the world really works. Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and captivating storytelling to show students the hidden side of everything with such questions as: - How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa? - Why are doctors so bad at washing their hands? - How much good do car seats do? - What's the best way to catch a terrorist? 'Thank goodness [Levitt and Dubner] are back-with wisdom, wit and, most of all, powerful economic insight. . . . [They] wryly, humorously and almost sadistically remind us that we are slaves to our own failures to parse situations into basic economic components.'-Los Angeles Times
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the landmark book Freakonomics comes this curated collection from the most readable economics blog in the universe. It''s the perfect solution for the millions of readers who love all things Freakonomics. Surprising and erudite, eloquent and witty, When to Rob a Bank demonstrates the brilliance that has made the Freakonomics guys an international sensation, with more than 7 million books sold in 40 languages, and 150 million downloads of their Freakonomics Radio podcast. When Freakonomics was first published, the authors started a blog--and they''ve kept it up. The writing is more casual, more personal, even more outlandish than in their books. In When to Rob a Bank , they ask a host of typically off-center questions: Why don''t flight attendants get tipped? If you were a terrorist, how would you attack? And why does KFC always run out of fried chicken? Over the past decade, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have published more than 8,000 blog posts on Freakonomics.com. Many of them, they freely admit, were rubbish. But now they''ve gone through and picked the best of the best. You''ll discover what people lie about, and why; the best way to cut gun deaths; why it might be time for a sex tax; and, yes, when to rob a bank. (Short answer: never; the ROI is terrible.) You''ll also learn a great deal about Levitt and Dubner''s own quirks and passions, from gambling and golf to backgammon and the abolition of the penny.
