Which is safer for a kid: swimming pool or a gun?? common sense says swimming pool but Levitt with his data proves that it is guns. Fewer kids die of gunshots than drowning in a pool.
This book is filled with many such questions that do not fall in the realm of classical economics: What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime?
Levitt answers them all with data in a simple lucid manner. he makes you realise the difference between correlation and causality i.e. somethings that are related and some that cause each other. e.g. Pratibha Sinha has made guest appearance in two movie: Raja Hindustani and Deewana Mastan and both did very well doesn’t mean that any movie with her as a guest will work! rather she has chosen good movies to make a guest appearance (but has poor choice in case of full fledged roles).
This is a wonderful book to read for everyone: from layperson to trained economists: It opens the mind to ask interesting questions and then to logically look through complex data to answer it. Do you think you know how a drug gang works?? First response woudl be that there is no data! Levitt proves that it exists if used properly. Similar is the case of cheating teachers and Sumo wrestlers. **It would be interesting to see if any of our cricketing whizzes pick it up to test on match fixing ;).
The problem with this book is that it is too **American. It is tough to relate to as an Indian. Seriously, how many Indians have a swimming pool or a gun in their house?? Do we have a problem of violent crime springing from teenage pregnancy? Drugs are not that pervasive in Indian society for the study of a US gang to be of any use. Similarly with the level of diversity we have I do not believe its possible to have any high income or low income names for kids.