I finally got down to 'reading' the audio CD of the "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Jevitt and Stephen J. Dubner, it is an audio CD read by Stephen J. Dubner.
The CD has been bought when hubby and I were rushing to literally buy up to the maximum limit for tax-relief purposes some more than one year ago, along with many other reading materials now lying nicely on multiple shelves at home.
I love Malcolm Gladwell, and I've heard of Steven Levitt, so that is strong enough reason for me to grab the Unabridged version of the Freakonomics - A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything - and New York Times Bestseller (which is kinda like cheating as the co-author and the voice beind the CD, Dubner, writes for the New York Times, oh well).
Why do people cheat? Cheating may not be part of human nature but it still happens... whatever if worth having is worth cheating for - "Cheating is getting more for less".
Okay, I am not judging the authors... I am just paraphrasing from what I hear being read. Just couldn't resist the play of words.
"To catch a cheater, you have to think like one".
From the back cover of the CD case:
QUOTE
"Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? If drug dealers make so much money, why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?"
These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt s not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddes of everyday life - from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing - and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventionl wisdom on its head. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: Freakonomics.
Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner showthat economics is, at root, the study of incentives - how people get what they want or need especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freaknomics, they set out o explore the hidden side of ... well, everything. The inner workings of acrack gang. The truth abuot real-estate agents. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.
What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter.
UNQUOTE
Hubby has returned from his work trip, hence I have put a hold to my listening of the 7 hours worth of audio. Yeah, it was more to entertain myself while I was home alone when hubby was away on his work trip those few days. I am hardly half way through, but I already like what I hear. Will continue with the rest when the time comes.
Worth listening to/reading. Highly recommended!
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