When I first saw the title, Freakonomics, written by Seven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner my first thought was great, this book is about economics and I am in taking economics in school right now, so this book will help me understand the class better. But I could not have been further than the truth; the stories in this book won't be found in your typical economics book. Levitt and Dubner combine to write about the new field of study that they have invented, which they call freakonomics. They explain the purpose of this new and innovative study is to explore the hidden side of everything.
I was surprised to see how easy it was to follow the author's train of thought because Levitt and Dubner's book is full of qualitative questions that they apply to basic economic principles that explain common social trends in today's society. The authors are a bit one sided in that they explain their findings on each subject, but just as even economics is a science, what science experiment does not. Which is exactly a perfect what to categorize the chapters in Freakonomics; the authors do not have a set thesis in this book, except to explore whatever curiosities the authors had. Each chapter was like a different economics experiment, looking at how the principles, theories, and tools of economics affected each occurrence. Whether it is racial discrimination on The Weakest Link to inner workings of crack dealer's financial records, each topic is broken into detail explaining how economic decisions played a huge factor in there outcome.
But rather most importantly of all, the authors have found a way teach important economic theories in an exciting manner. Even though I was learning a lot about the fundamental ideas of economics, it was not like I reading a boring textbook, the novel of Freakonomics has found a way to link economic principles in a way that is exciting and interesting to all who read it, and I found that is was almost impossible to put down till I had finished a chapter because of the fact that both authors find a way to keep readers turning the pages begging for more.
Once again, Freakonomics is not like your regular novel in that is does not have a set topic except to exploring the economic perspective behind questions that are often asked today. I cannot stress enough that it is not like any economics textbook you have read before. Maybe the stories that encompass Freakonomics should be though, since all economics is, are tools to explain how one factor can impact the bigger picture. Economics is not a structured like math, were as follows a set of rules, so any philosophy regardless as to how off beat it is can be economics. But regardless, Freakonomics is a perfect read for anyone looking to look at the world in a completely different way or high school student looking for a fun way to learn about economics.