Economics and Egos
5) Freakonomics - Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
It's fairly obvious to me that most people who describe themselves as "rogues" or are willing to go along with being called a rogue have an overinflated sense of their own individuality. So, the subtitle on this book (a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything) is a pretty good indicator of what's inside. Don't get me wrong, Levitt is a remarkably bright and insightful guy, and the book is quite interesting, but you have to wade through a lot of ego to get to the point. It's a very quick read, and has some very good perspectives and interesting stats and studies. I'm not sure how much of the "devilishly clever" talk is Levitt being happy to be talked up and how much is Dubner having a massive man crush on Levitt, but in print at least, Levitt comes across as someone you'd want desperately to avoid at a party because he'd never shut up about his own brilliance and every question he asked would be a foil to prove his own points. Despite all that, the book is worth reading.
It's fairly obvious to me that most people who describe themselves as "rogues" or are willing to go along with being called a rogue have an overinflated sense of their own individuality. So, the subtitle on this book (a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything) is a pretty good indicator of what's inside. Don't get me wrong, Levitt is a remarkably bright and insightful guy, and the book is quite interesting, but you have to wade through a lot of ego to get to the point. It's a very quick read, and has some very good perspectives and interesting stats and studies. I'm not sure how much of the "devilishly clever" talk is Levitt being happy to be talked up and how much is Dubner having a massive man crush on Levitt, but in print at least, Levitt comes across as someone you'd want desperately to avoid at a party because he'd never shut up about his own brilliance and every question he asked would be a foil to prove his own points. Despite all that, the book is worth reading.