Superfreakonomics By Levitt And Dubner – Good Conversational Materials (And It Stops There)

Although this book is not going to change the world – at least I do not think so – like its predecessor “Freakonomics”, “Superfreakonomics” is an entertaining read, full of good conversational materials.  That is, if you can remember the numbers and details.

Backed by numerous reports (the note section alone takes up 36 pages) and the authors’ personal interviews, “Superfreakonomics” does appear as a credible read.  Some parts, yes.  Others, draw criticism from others.  I personally find some of the topics non-conclusive.  Like the car seat experiment that the authors that have personally paid for.  If the conclusion is that Americans should not waste money in equipping car seats for children who are beyond a certain age, that message does not seem to come out clearly, from what the authors appear to lead me in believing with numbers and statistics.  And when the authors write on the topic of climate change, even I as someone not from the field nor has studied economy, I smell something not right.  Indeed, that chapter alone comes under fire from fellow economists and scientists.

All these aside, “Superfreakonomics” is a good effort in making cold hard numbers that the micro-economists study highly readable.  Some topics, I have already known.  Others, I thought I have known.  As random as the layout of the topics as it may seem, “Superfreaknomics” does start with [human] prostitution and end with [monkey] prostitution.  Below are my chapter-by-chapter thoughts.

Putting The Freak In Economics

An interesting introduction setting the stage of using observable statistics to look through the lens of an economist.  Walk drunk is more dangerous than drive drunk, more people are killed by elephants than sharks.  These are interesting topics.  But to single out one particular race and comment on their penis size not able to fit into the condoms?  My inquisition mind would direct to the investigation on why World Health Organization specs do not take that into account.  Instead of writing “penises too small … to fit” that set some readers’ minds wild (it is always fun to laugh at other people’s penis size without thinking that yours doesn’t enter into the Guinness Book of Record either), I would – if I have to – write, “The condoms are manufactured with the wrong specs that do not fit well.”  Then again, with such a non-sensational piece of writing, I doubt if it would fly as far as book sales is concerned.

Now, why am I so passionately defending another race?  I do not think that it is the right thing to write.  And I am pretty sure that my race does not enter into the Guinness Book of Record as the largest penis size on average either.

How Is A Street Prostitute Like A Department-store Santa?

I am not sure if I am 100% comfortable reading a chapter on the the pricing plan for the different tricks prostitutes turn nor the discount they give for various incentives.  If you are genuinely interested in this topic, I would strongly recommend books that are written from the sociology instead of the economics perspective.  I have read a few in the past.

Why Should Suicide Bombers Buy Life Insurance?

I see a subtle linkage between the topics on Islamic terrorists and the higher birth defect rate due to Ramadan (an Islamic tradition), innocent as it may seems.  While I am not entirely convinced on the latter, this chapter is an interesting read on how one’s birthday – from the cold eyes of the statisticians – affects one’s destiny significantly.  There is also a good write-up on the emergency room too.

I sincerely hope that terrorists will not pick up this book and read.  Ideas to more efficiently carry out terrorist acts and more effectively hide the identity?  Do we really need a book on “Terrorism For Dummy”?

Unbelievable Stories About Apathy And Altruism

I enjoy reading this chapter.  People may not be as altruistic as we think we are, nor with such apathy as we are told we are.  Some of the experiments are not new to me.  In Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point”, a case study is used to illustrate the power of tipping point.  It is a well known news – or so we think – that a number of witnesses in an American suburb failed to report a murder happened in their very street.  Malcolm Gladwell’s theory is that because people think that others would pick up the phone and call the police – since it was obvious that someone should because the murder happened just outside their houses – no one picked up the phone.

Now, if Levitt and Dubner is right that someone did and we are not as cold hearted as we are told we are, this would make the book “Tipping Point” looks really bad.

The Fix Is In – And It’s Cheap And Simple

I enjoy reading this chapter too.  Some fixes are indeed cheap and simple.  It is true that we love to complain, particularly about how terrible the modern world is compared with the past.  Many times in the past, we thought the situation was doomed and we managed to find a fix, much cheaper and simpler than what we would have imagined.  This gives hope and encouragement to today’s world of course.

What Do Al Gore And Mount Pinatubo Have In Common?

This chapter draws fire from the critics.  I can understand why.

If I read this chapter right, global warming is not as doomed as we think it is due to the followings.  First, every hundred years of so, a major volcano eruption sets the world back to global cooling, hence reverses the global warming effect.  Second, carbon dioxide is not the right villain (and immediately disputed by the source of that claim after the book is published).  Third, there is a cheap and easy way to send sulphur dioxide to the stratosphere high up in the sky using lightweight pipes supported by hot air balloons in order to cool our planet.  Is it necessary to spend trillions of dollars to tackle the global warming issue?  The authors appear to say no.

That, I have my doubt.

Monkeys Are People Too

A short chapter on how in an experiment, monkeys can be taught to use money to purchase food and services.  What does it really mean?  I do not know.  It is a great conversational material nonetheless.  Like the rest of the book.