Super freakonomics : [global cooling, patriotic prostitutes and why suicide bombers should buy life insurance]

Whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically, Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling to show how people respond to incentives. Abstract: Whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically, Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling to show how people respond to incentives

the new York Times Best-selling freakonomics Was A Worldwide Sensation, Selling Over Four Million Copies In Thirty-five Languages And Changing The Way We Look At The World. Now, Steven D. Levitt And Stephen J. Dubner Return With superfreakonomics, And Fans And Newcomers Alike Will Find That The freakquel Is Even Bolder, Funnier, And More Surprising Than The First.

four Years In The Making, superfreakonomics Asks Not Only The Tough Questions, But The Unexpected Ones: What's More Dangerous, Driving Drunk Or Walking Drunk? Why Is Chemotherapy Prescribed So Often If It's So Ineffective? Can A Sex Change Boost Your Salary?

superfreakonomics Challenges The Way We Think All Over Again, Exploring The Hidden Side Of Everything With Such Questions As:

• how Is A Street Prostitute Like A Department-store Santa?
• why Are Doctors So Bad At Washing Their Hands?
• how Much Good Do Car Seats Do?
• what's The Best Way To Catch A Terrorist?
• did Tv Cause A Rise In Crime?
• what Do Hurricanes, Heart Attacks, And Highway Deaths Have In Common?
• are People Hard-wired For Altruism Or Selfishness?
• can Eating Kangaroo Save The Planet?
• which Adds More Value: A Pimp Or A Realtor?

Levitt And Dubner Mix Smart Thinking And Great Storytelling Like No One Else, Whether Investigating A Solution To Global Warming Or Explaining Why The Price Of Oral Sex Has Fallen So Drastically. By Examining How People Respond To Incentives, They Show The World For What It Really Is—good, Bad, Ugly, And, In The Final Analysis, Super Freaky.

freakonomics Has Been Imitated Many Times Over—but Only Now, With superfreakonomics, Has It Met Its Match.

publishers Weekly

economist Levitt And Journalist Dubner Capitalize On Their Megaselling Freakonomics With Another Effort To Make The Dismal Science Go Gonzo. Freaky Topics Include The Oldest Profession (hookers Charge Less Nowadays Because The Sexual Revolution Has Produced So Much Free Competition), Money-hungry Monkeys (yep, That Involves Prostitution, Too) And The Dunderheadedness Of Al Gore. There’s Not Much Substance To The Authors’ Project Of Applying Economics To All Of Life. Their Method Is To Notice Some Contrarian Statistic (adult Seat Belts Are As Effective As Child-safety Seats In Preventing Car-crash Fatalities In Children Older Than Two), Turn It Into “economics” By Tacking On A Perfunctory Cost-benefit Analysis (seat Belts Are Cheaper And More Convenient) And Append A Libertarian Sermonette (governments “tend To Prefer The Costly-and-cumbersome Route”). The Point Of These Lessons Is To Bolster The Economist’s View Of People As Rational Actors, Altruism As An Illusion And Government Regulation As A Folly Of Unintended Consequences. The Intellectual Content Is Pretty Thin, But It’s Spiked With The Crowd-pleasing Provocations—“'a Pimp’s Services Are Considerably More Valuable Than A Realtor’s’” —that Spell Bestseller. (nov.)

The New York Times best-selling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling over four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Now, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with SuperFreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first. Four years in the making, SuperFreakonomics asks not only the tough questions, but the unexpected ones: What's more dangerous, driving drunk or walking drunk? Why is chemotherapy prescribed so often if it's so ineffective? Can a sex change boost your salary? SuperFreakonomics challenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as: How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa? Why are doctors so bad at washing their hands? How much good do car seats do? What's the best way to catch a terrorist? Did TV cause a rise in crime? What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common? Are people hard-wired for altruism or selfishness? Can eating kangaroo save the planet? Which adds more value: a pimp or a Realtor? Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else, whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically. By examining how people respond to incentives, they show the world for what it really is? good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky. Freakonomics has been imitated many times over? but only now, with SuperFreakonomics, has it met its match The New York Times bestselling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling more than four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world.Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with Superfreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.SuperFreakonomics challenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as:How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?Can eating kangaroo save the planet?Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else. By examining how people respond to incentives, they show the world for what it really is-good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky. Freakonomics has been imitated many times over-but only now, with SuperFreakonomics, has it met its match.

Freakonomics lived on the New York Times bestseller list for an astonishing two years. Now authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with more iconoclastic insights and observations in SuperFreakonomics —the long awaited follow-up to their New York Times Notable blockbuster. Based on revolutionary research and original studies SuperFreakonomics promises to once again challenge our view of the way the world really works.

Content: Putting the freak in economics -- How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa? -- Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance? -- Unbelievable stories about apathy and altruism -- The fix is in--and it's cheap and simple -- What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in common? -- Monkeys are people too.