Originally posted by: TheSnowman
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: Stunt
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
I bought the book today at Barnes & Noble
Cool...you just gained a little respect from me
Today is the day I've set aside to read this book.
Right away in the first chapter is a partisan subject.
He starts right off that Legalizing Abortion is the reason for a crime drop that no one predicted because the environmental criminal pool dropped so much with all the poor liberal trash aborting their pregnacies rather than adding to the crime wave.
This has been discussed on here ad naueusm.
The Republicans in here including you still insist Abortion is bad even though right off in this book he clearly shows it had a positive affect on crime.
Partisan.
I don't follow your logic here; the author starts out by taking argument against a Republican position, yet you claim he is right-wing partisan?
No, I was just stating it was partisan in nature.
Most of it is against the Republican agenda, some against Democrat.
Thanks Stunt for suggesting I read it. I would also suggest that all folks that frequent P&N read it.
The folks at Barnes & Noble said it is always a top seller for them and I see why.
Steven simply gave it a personal name (Freakonomics) in an effort to cement himself in American Economist history which judging by the success of this book he accomplished his own goal and agenda. Congrats to him.
My summation:
He pulls no punches by immediately trampling on the Republican agenda on banning Abortion by clearly showing what happened to Romania from 1966 to 1987 when they banned abortion.
I had no idea Romania had done that, no wonder there was so many gymnasts from there.
Then I like how he calls fellow Economicist's devils with their own personal incentive schemes.
I also like how he affirmed the higher folks get on the ladder the more likely they not only will cheat but also cheated in getting up the ladder in the first place.
Interesting take on the KKK actually being a Third Party in the U.S.
Very true on Fearmongering; Like how you will die in a $20K car Vs a $50 car simply because you paid more for it.
Or how if Bush did not say there was WMD in Iraq that he would not have been able to instill enough fear with any other fear subject.
or how a simple toast to an old buddy politician led to the downfall of Trent Lott.
The comparison to gang members being the same as Mickey D employees, very cool.
How Crack stopped Blacks from becoming the dominant ethnicity in America.
It was intersting that Levitt could not put a finger on why people turn out the way that they do, in fact Chapter 5 and the last line of the book point to that confusion.
I have an answer for that but will reserve for a later appropriate time and place.
His last Chapter is also a pet peeve with me. I can't stand how the American Sheeple place such an emphasis on simply the name of a person. What really bothers me is the Hollywoodization of two first names.
Finally his destruction of the whole myth of "Conventional Wisdom". Kudos
Many of us do just that here in P&N except for the Republicans because anything that breaks control of the people goes against their grain of absolute control over the citizenry.
Through it all the book clearly shows one thing, Human Nature trumps wisdom.
Sad but true, tis the reason History repeats itself and destined to do so until the Earth and humans no longer exist.
Dave
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