Introduction : Hard-core economics it ain’t! Its unadultrated entertainment...just like any other good read for the dentist’s appointment, BEST bus journey, loo, bed (if your partner ain’t upto any horizontal action for the night)…..am intentionally knocking-out the trains coz they are incalculably populated and last but not the least coffee breaks.
Synopsis : A gripping short-read laced with sardonic insights, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is the study of incentives -- how people get what they want or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. They set out to explore the hidden side of everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher etc… These may not sound like typical issues for an economist to work on, but Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist..
What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a surfeit of befuddlement and complication, is not impenetrable and ...if the right questions are asked..it is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Through his clear-eyed thinking, he shows how to see through all the clutter.
Conclusion : If your only expectation is to get a few “wows” and “o I c”, then you’re going to love it. If you’re thinking your going to get an indepth academic review of stringent economic factoids, then I’d suggest you put it back on the book shelf.
The point I’m trying to make is…it’s an introduction to asking questions and not accepting the norm. And to that end, it succeeds nicely.