swingbeat: 12/26: Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Freakonomics is a book about what happens when an economist uses analysis techniques to answer weird questions. Some of them:

1. If drug dealers are so rich, why do they live with their moms?
2. What do sumo wrestlers and schoolteachers have in common?
3. Do real estate agents really work for you?

Levitt is a professor of economics. He asks and answers pretty tough questions, like the ones above. He provides numerical data for his theses and encourages the reader to view what experts say skeptically, and to look at the facts himself.

I definitely recommend this book for sure, if only to understand why Roe v. Wade caused the decline of crime in the late 1990's. :).