Freakonomics: One & Two

I will be completely honest, the only reasons why I was driven to read this book is because of the abstract cover and the unique questions it initially asks. A few of these questions are "What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?" "Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?" "Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?" These questions got me interested in this book because I thought how in the hell will these questions get answered? And again I do admit that as soon as I started reading the first few pages, I got confused. The book bounces around several places to get answers. The best way I can think of describing how this book goes is, imagine asking a question. That person talks about random things that aren't really related to your question at all, but in the end they still manage to answer your question. And in your mind you're thinking "Well, why the hell couldn't they have just said the answer straight up in the first place?" Thats what went through my mind as I began reading this book. Though the extra information that it gives readers is actually quite interesting and it contributes much to the answer. But it'll still take some effort to fully comprehend and absorb the information the book gives you.

Freakonomics addresses questions you think would never be asked and would never be answered. It shows that even though the modern world is pretty complex, if the right questions are asked then you can get an even more interesting point of view than everyone thinks. Personally I know one of the things that I will definitely remember upon reading the first few chapters. One of the first things the book talked about is the truth about real-estate agents. The things uncovered about them is quite shocking and it DOES make sense. For example it said that if you were selling a house for $300,000 the agent would want you to sell it right away because of the commission that they get. The agent wouldn't go to the trouble of actually getting top dollar for your house. They would want you to sell it right away as opposed to waiting a bit until you get higher offers, because if a $310,000 offer came in, it's only $150 more for them and they'd have to do extra work. So you basically lose about $10,000. If anything, this part in the book tells me how not to fully trust real-estate agents because of their hidden incentives.

Most of the things the book talks about makes a lot of sense. So far it's talked about schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers, the Ku Klux Klan and real-estate agents, drug dealers still living with their moms, reasons behind the decreases in crime rate, and perfect parenting. For the most part, the book gives you enough information to actually answer the question yourself. It presents to you a hefty amount of data and stories and by the end of it all you can basically use all of what you just read from that chapter to answer the initial question. It's an interesting way to write a book, yes, but it's worth it. Along with the fact that this book is unlike any other. Other books concerning economics are much more complicated and are too directly to the point. The way Freakonomics presents its information is a lot easier to understand once you get the hang of how to actually read it.

So far, I cannot express how interesting the book is right now. It's been a pretty wild ride so far and after finishing this book, I feel like I would have a lot more knowledge on how the world works.