Superfreakonomics a Personal Review

Author Wheelan writes, "Life is about trade-offs, and so is economics." Indeed, so is Naked Economics. This book promises to be a good introduction to economics for the layman. Throughout the book, the author uses easy-to-understand language and vivid examples to illustrate his points in strategic places maintaining a sense of lightness with the readers in reading the material. Here is a summary of each of the 12 Chapters of the book Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan.

I find the theme in this book to be something that an anyday person or child would experience in a day or much longer piece of time. Any person can experience times of confusion and emotional instability, but if that person sticks it out; they will find an answer to their problems or they will answer answer it for themselves. This pertains to a lifelong conflict, but it does not just pertain to that. It relates to a situation in a day, week, or even, an

The main theme in this book is that of individual experience, which is written as if the reader was looking through the eyes of the narrator, not knowing the context, but understanding how life is for those who have been through the experience.

The book, Common Sense Economics written by James D. Gwartney, Ricahrd L.Stroup, Dwight R. Lee, and Tawni Ferrarini, gives a simple insight for reader into the inner workings economics in a common sense terms. The main point of the book is that to have economic success comes from low interference from the government, the motivation of individuals, and competitive markets.

The author Steven Levitt studied economics at Harvard University and MIT. He is primarily known for his work in the field of crime. The title Freakonomics means a study of economics based on the principles of incentives. The title is related to the book since he emphasizes how incentives drive and affect people’s actions. Although this book does not have a single theme, the main focus of the book is a new way of interpreting the world using economic tools. He explores incentives, information asymmetry, conventional wisdom, crime and abortion, and parenting throughout the six chapters of the book.

Thomas stated that any definition of a situation influences the present. In other words the decisions made by individuals gradually affect the whole life policy and personality of the individual himself. As a result the theory articulates that intimacy, education and family which are basically known societal problems are the key fundamentals to the roles of situations especially when detecting a social world. The societal problems are the subjective impressions that can be projected on to a human life to become real projectors. In the field sociology the statement by Thomas expresses how individuals have different views on situations wrong interpretation of situations by an individual are followed by consequences as real as if the situation was correctly interpreted (Thomas, J. A. 2012).

Since the beginning of time, the environment in which one is accustomed to provides them with the choices that lead down paths that make their legacy. This environment can be negative or positive, structured or chaotic, rich or poor, all which give a variety of choices. Regardless of the different trials and tribulations we face ultimately, it is the choices we make in response that make us the person we become.

In the United States, we encounter quite a bit of obstacles that we can’t seem to get rid of completely. We as a nation deal with inflation, unemployment, stagflation, recessions, depressions, and so much more. Reading these three articles opened my eyes to the world of economics, and even made me question the society we live in. I’ve learned that sometimes questions can’t be answered, and I learned that once we solve one issue, there is always another issue on its way. These articles made me analyze, and think about the future of economics, and what I can do to try and help the economy. These authors of these three articles make it very clear that there are issues in the United States, and they do an amazing job

The questions that I have for the author of this book are how do we

READ: Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, Charles Wheeland, W.W. Norton, 2003. Completely- cover to cover.

I absolutely love how the author includes plenty of personal descriptions about the lives of the great economists we read about. Karl Marx, David Ricardo, Marshall and Maynard Keynes for instance, were very real people. Some were considered unkempt sobs, others so ugly they were called snout by friends, other considered irrational and crazy even by themselves, and others some of the first economists to get rich by understanding and trading stocks. The personality Buchholz brings to the great economic thinkers is fun and very helpful in gaining appreciation as he has for these men. Their ideas and economic philosophy’s apply more than one would think in this modern world. And this is the main aspect Buchholz brings to his book; connecting past economic science (and he calls it the science of reason and choices) to issues we face today. When doing so we see these men were spot on in many of their predictions. The author brings up these points simply to show that many of these economic masters do not receive much of the credit they deserve. And by studying the basics of their theory’s we can not only see further into the future but “learn the doctrines they have been trying to teach us from the beginning.” New Ideas from Dead Economists was very descriptive about the ideas of these men and how they apply to us today. As the author states himself “The world is materially easier but psychologically more difficult to live in today

If life affected so much by randomness, why do we think in hindsight we should have seen big things coming? It describes the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is easy to understand after the fact the clues that led to something but impossible to predict before. Then it gives some examples of the market success of products, focuses on an ability to react to events rather than predict them. In our daily life, there are many flexibilities.

In developing a critique for this book one would have to enlist the creativity that

I love it when I get to talk about my favorite book--Superfreakonomics. Superfreakonomics has a multi chapter masterpiece on the topic of being environmentally friendly. In a small section they mention food habits. I love the three ideas below because they are all ideas either incredibly simple or completely out of left field. Aside from my second idea, the ideas I posted require no new infrastructure changes or major changes in habit but the ideas are incredibly effective. All of us can try to use all of the food we buy, or buy more chicken instead of beef. I posted the kangaroo idea because I just love the idea of large kangaroo farms and it turns out that doing so would be incredibly feasible if American consumer habits would change.

The book was useful to us as there were some original economic acumen. It taught us that no matter how rich and successful you are at that point in your life, you will still have to make a financial backup plan and be vigilant towards your own financial wealth. We found this book inspiring because the author did not give up even after many downfalls in his life. It taught us to persevere through hardship and be determined to overcome it. Family was also another important factor that he had stressed on in the book. He wrote about how he regretted not spending enough time with his family. He wrote that he was upset with himself because he had not been able to see his children grow up as fine adults that they are presently. This has taught us not to neglect our family even though it clashes with our personal work. We must always spend quality time together because it will strengthen the bond in the family as it is