Freakonomics Essay - 1424 Words

The book Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, is designed to pose fundamental questions concerning economics using a variety of imaginative comparisons and questions. Examples of these comparisons and questions can be seen in the list of contents, with chapter titles such as â€Å"How is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real-estate agents?† and â€Å"Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?† Not everyone is interested in economics, but with titles that grab attention, it is almost impossible not to pick up the book and read it for yourself. The two chapters of Freakonomics I will be analyzing are â€Å"What do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers have in common?† and â€Å"Perfect Parenting, Part II; or: Would a Roshanda by any other†¦show more content†¦Often, cheating is used to try and win, however there are several sport institutions that use cheating to lose on purpose. In Japan, a wrestler’s rank determines how much money they make, how much they are allowed to eat, sleep, and take advantage of successes. The top sixty-six ranked wrestlers in Japan make up the ‘sumo elite,’ and have significantly better lifestyles and luxuries than the wrestlers below them. To raise their ranking, a wrestler must win at least eight of the fifteen bouts (rounds) at one of six tournaments per year. If a wrestler does not get eight wins, their rank is lowered, and they can even be removed from the ‘sumo elite.’ Since getting at least eight wins is so crucial, seven wins is the tipping point for many wrestlers to make deals, bribes, and promises. For example, a wrestler with a 7-7 record fighting a wrestler with an 8-6 record on the final day of the special tournament would be desperate to reach eight wins. The predicted chance of the 7-7 wrestler winning is 48.7%, however the data reflects the actual chance of winning at 79.6%. When the wrestlers return to normal tournaments, the data shows the 8-6 wrestlers almost always win when fighting the former 7-7 wrestlers. This data suggests that wrestlers who are desperate to raise their ranking and stay in the ‘sumo elite’ collude with opponents to ensure themselves a win during the special tournaments. Sumo wrestling is the national sport of Japan,Show MoreRelatedFreakonomics Essay737 Words   |  3 Pagesthe result was Freakonomics, a book that claims to explore the hidden side of everything, using real-life examples such as studi es and polls conducted by Levitt to explain how economics is everywhere, that economics is how the world really functions. Through everything from analyzing the inner thought processes of real-estate agents and crack dealers, to predicting the next popular baby names, Levitt and Dubner guide readers to think differently, ask questions, and to use â€Å"Freakonomics† in their dailyRead MoreFreakonomics Book Review Essay630 Words   |  3 Pagesat math, I don’t know a lot of econometrics, and I also don’t know how to do theory.† This marks right away Lennits to a different approach of ways to get his audience attention, he steps outside of the boundaries most people in society live by. Freakonomics, is a book that really triggered my imagination as a kept on reading, I really loved it. I myself started asking myself a great amount of questions that I had never looked at before. Especially toward the end that he asks the importance of onesRead MoreFreakonomi cs and Misconceptions of Economy Essay1244 Words   |  5 PagesA number one bestseller many say is grasping in amazement: Freakonomics is said to unravel the untold stories of life. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner break common misconceptions of economics by revealing its true science. Freakonomics shatters the view of economics being an arid study of finance and markets. They pull in information to make inferences on past occurrences subtly influence on the present. Freakonomics packs punches with its countless number of tables and figures, serving asRead MoreEssay Freakonomics chapter 1 summary688 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Freakonomics Chapter 1 Summary In chapter one of Freakonomics, Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt describe how when incentives are strong enough, many usually honest people from different walks of life will cheat in order to gain financially or climb the ladder in their careers. The authors define an incentive as â€Å"a means of urging people to do more of a good thing or less of a bad thing.† This chapter covers three varieties of incentives: Economic, Social and Moral. Economic incentives motivate peopleRead MoreFreakonomics Essay811 Words   |  4 PagesFreakonomics Book Report In chapter 1, Levitt and Dubner describe how many people in different cultures and walks of life, which are otherwise inclined to be honest, find subtle ways of cheating to advance their position or increase monetary awards when incentives are strong enough. The authors define an incentive as â€Å"a means of urging people to do more of a good thing or less of a bad thing,† and identify three varieties of incentives. Economic incentives are those, which a person responds toRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt1195 Words   |  5 PagesIn the book Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, is made up of a series of scenarios in which an economist and a journalist apply basic principles of economics to demonstrate that information can often expose interesting truths about how the world operates. It uses the science of economics and specific data to challenge our assumptions about everything. In the book Freakonomics by Levitt Dubner, com pares and contrasts two groups of people or things by using their informationalRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt750 Words   |  3 PagesThe last section in chapter two of Freakonomics, written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, attempts to answer the following questions; â€Å"How forthright (and honest) are people when it comes to sharing their personal information,† and â€Å"what kind of information in personal ads is considered the most (and least) desirable† (74)? Throughout this section the authors provide statistical data from an online dating site, which encompassed more than 20,000 users. This data showed that not only areRead MoreThe Importance Of Faulkners Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech By William Faulkner1405 Words   |  6 Pageswriters that Faulkner was speaking to, they would fulfill his wishes. Over 50 years later, University of Chicago economist, Steven D. Levitt, and New York Times journalist, Stephen J. Dubner, combined their knowledge and skills and created the book, Freakonomics. The book follows an economist, Levitt, as he explores the â€Å"hidden side of everything† and explains it all in a different, unconventional perspective. It takes on the topic of morality and economics as he, along with Dubner, ask and answer manyRead MoreEssay on Review of Freakonomics1663 Words   |  7 PagesReview of Freakonomics This chapters main idea is that the study of economics is the study of incentives. We find a differentiation between economic incentives, social incentives and moral incentives. Incentives are described in a funny way as means of urging people to do more of a good thing or less of a bad thing, and in this chapter we find some examples Ââ€"publicRead MoreThe Book Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt2418 Words   |  10 Pages The book Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner consists of a series of essays in which a journalist and an economist work collectively to find, by applying everyday economic principles, how the world truly works, which reveals some fascinating truths about the world. Some background history of the authors, Steven D. Levitt interviewed Stephen J. Dubner for New York Times Magazine and this is where they initially met and became good friends. With them having similar ideals about