Book Review: Freakonomics - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

This is yet another exceedingly popular book by economists for the layman that has sold 3 million copies worldwide (up to 2007). This book actually came out before The Undercover Economist. It is co-authored by Steven Levitt, a University of Chicago economics professor, and Stephen Debnur, a writer for The New York Times. The book does not have one single theme and its chapters are independent of one another, so for people like me who like to flip books or magazines from the back, it’s a blessing. I can read the chapters in any order I like and each one offer its own story. Levitt’s research into obscure subjects proves in most cases that conventional wisdom is not always correct and the so-called experts are as guilty as politicians to say things that serve their own self-interest.

His research into everyday issues includes topics such as the effects of legalising abortion on crime rate in America, how teachers in some schools in Chicago cheat in their students’ exam to boost up their own rating and match fixing among Sumo wrestlers in Japan. He also asks why most drug dealers live with their mothers and probes how much your name is connected with your success in life. Although political correctness does not allow people to admit the positive effects of abortion on reducing crime rate, the authors have shown that by terminating unwanted pregnancies, future crime will be reduced. Babies born from these unwanted pregnancies are poorly raised and are likely to become criminals when they reach their teenage years. By cutting off a major supply of potential criminals (killing them before birth), crime rates can be brought down within two decades. Controversial it surely is, but that is what the data shows. And he can say it because he is a researcher, not a politician.

Crime rates and drug dealers go hand in hand. Drawing from a student’s research into the world of crack, the book discusses elaborate corporate-like structure within the hierarchy of drug dealers’ organisation. While those at the top enjoy great rewards, those at the lower rungs can barely pay for their own apartments, hence forcing most of them to live with their mothers. The book also shows trends in babies’ names and their correlation with level of mother’s education. Less successful communities (African-American in US) tend to imitate and adopt names from more successful ethnic groups (White American). Here in Malaysia, for reasons still a mystery to me, many in the Chinese community adopt Christian names even though they are not Christians. Could it be that the names sound more modern, Western and more cultured? It does not quite catch on in the Malay community though because it’s our belief that a good name should have good Arabic meaning. Hence the trend from our forefathers’ time with names like Bulat, Hitam, Kenit, Minah and Timah gave way to Aiman, Danial or Fathihah as the level of education of the Malays improves.

The findings of the studies are mainly from the US and may not apply here. I wish these were replicated here by our own geniuses to suit our own local problems. Alas, we simply do not have enough money to sponsor such things, nor do we have enough supply of freaks like Levitt to crack their head on solving such seemingly useless problems. We are more likely to spend our money on how high tech stuff like brewing teh tarik at zero gravity or flipping roti canai at 350 km above the Earth than looking into such mundane matters.