Freakonomics
by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
The book that made economics entertaining: incentives explain cheating teachers and sumo wrestlers, information asymmetry explains real estate agents, and data overturns conventional wisdom on crime, parenting and names. Some findings have been contested; the habit of asking what the data actually shows is the lasting gift.
Read it if…
you want to think like an economist about everyday questions.
Skip it if…
you want policy depth; it is a collection of puzzles.
Three things you will actually use
- Incentives explain most behavior.
- Conventional wisdom is often wrong; check the data.
- Correlation is not causation; look for natural experiments.
Do this first
Pick one belief you hold about how people behave and ask what incentive actually drives it.
Our verdict
Entertaining and habit-forming.
Compare with other Mindset books
Browse all Mindset book reviews or get the free Reality Code Cheat Sheet.
As an Amazon Associate, WisdomDeck earns from qualifying purchases. Links marked “Click to see” go to Amazon. We are not paid for opinions, prices and availability are not shown here and change on Amazon, and we never see your purchase details. Nothing here is medical, legal or financial advice.