SuperFreakonomics

By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

A book review by Richard Gill of the AIM & PLUS Newsletter

SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner can be purchased for GBP 9.99 by clicking here.

Finally, the long awaited follow up to the international best seller Freakonomics has been released in paper back. The first book was a worldwide sensation, well regarded for its authors' refreshing and entertaining application of economic analysis to some unique and perhaps unconventional questions.

As readers of the first book will know this series has little in common with traditional economics books. There are no bell curve analyses, global macroeconomic predictions or oil price forecasts in sight in Levitt and Dubners' efforts. Instead they try (and succeed) to apply the basic concepts of economics, such as supply and demand, incentives, price elasticity and so on, and use them to explain a range of sometimes bizarre questions. But questions which can be applied to everyday life.

Lets take an example from the book. In the first chapter the authors use their wisdom (Levitt is an economics teacher, Dubner an author and journalist) to explain the economics of prostitution in the city of Chicago. They give the case of a high class prostitutewho upped her fees from $300 an hour to $500 an hour and saw no fall in business from her clients - an example of inelastic demand. I won't spoil the question the authors ask at the beginning of the chapter - why is a street prostitute like a department store Santa - but the answer is both simple and fascinating.

Other topics covered include why suicide bombers should buy life insurance, why we should be allowed to sell our kidneys for money and - one of Tom Winnifrith's favourite subjects - the solution to global warming.

This book is essential reading for anyone with even a passing interest in economics. It brings to life what many regard as a dull and dry subject taught by aging professors in tweed jackets. I believe that if this book were given to every GSCE student in the country it would single handedly be responsible for reversing the recent decline in studentstaking the subject at A-level. And for less than a tenner it is an absolute bargain.

SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner can be purchased for GBP 9.99 by clicking here.

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