Freakofinal

Freakonomics is a book like no other. It looks at aspects of our society that no one would have thought to look at before, from the names of children to the information attack against the KKK. The authors argue that data is all one needs to explore some of the greatest mysteries of our society. It is easy to hypothesize about the catalyst required to bring down crime, but only the data can show the true reason for this drop. Although I would contend that no matter how much  data we possess, it cannot explain all the mysteries in our world, but it can bring us closer to understand our basic patterns.

 A fascinating section of this book, was the discussion on children's names. All parents like to believe that a children's name has a profound affect on the child's life. If a child has the wrong name, it could hinder them adulthood, or if given the right name, it could give them the extra push to make it big. Freakonomics examined this claim, and came away with the realization that names have very little effect on a child's success. I have a a very standard name which has neither helped nor hindered me, but I was almost named Jasper. Upon hearing this, I was practically relieved at surviving almost being named a name I consider stupid. Something as subjective as a name choice had actually caused me distress. Jasper isn't even that bad a name! Jasper Terreden or Jake Terreden will almost certainly be irrelevant in my life, and yet to this day, after reading the book, I still express gratitude for not being named Jasper. I suppose no matter how much data we are exposed to, we stick to our beliefs, there is something uniquely human about that.

When we think about where we want to end up in life, drug dealer does not usually top our list. Yet drug related gang membership has risen over the past decades, and the authors took a look at a particular gang in Chicago. A student at the University of Chicago, spent months studying the gang, and learning about their inner workings. At one point, he got his hands on a ledger that outlined the entire gang's economic operations. What he discovered was that these gangs had very similar economic systems to our modern capitalist system. A few people at the top of the pyramid have very lucrative jobs while the majority struggle to make three dollars an hour. People working for Amway or the Black Disciples have almost identical lives. They are told if they work hard enough, then they will be among the elite, but many are inevitably disappointed. It was fascinating to see that no matter what part of society we come from, much of what we experience is similar to that of people around the globe.

One experience that a huge portion of our population has in common is the raising of a child. All people wonder how much of an effect they have on a child. Freakonomics examined this issue and came upon  a very interesting finding. What really affected a child's life was not what a parent does, but who a parent. A child with a rich parent, is more likely to be successful in life than one whose parents read to them every night. This can be somewhat disheartening to parents. No matter what they do, it is their life that will affect their child's. Although some parents may be disappointed that their actions will not have a large effect on a child, I like to believe that what really makes a good parent, is a good person,  which is actually a very encouraging sign.

Taken as a whole, I can understand why this book was so revolutionary. It attacked issues no one dared to touch and broke them down so anyone can understand them; that is the beauty of this book. The intended audience is anyone with an open mind and an interest in their society. This wasn't written for intellectuals, it was written for a person who is trying to see the world differently, and I think we all are trying to do that. I would recommend this book to anyone who is curious about how the world works. It is an easy read, and does not talk down to the reader, but rather invites them to see the world as they do; showing them patterns that no one had noticed. It definitely deserved the accolades granted to it.    
   

Economic Punctuation

Although in a book about economics punctuation is not a vital aspect, it can go a long way to creating a solid argument. In a section about the correlation between abortion and the crime rate, the authors must be absolutely clear in their use of facts and observations so that the readers do not come away with an incorrect assumption. Punctuation can go a long way towards creating a clear and concise argument. The section goes as follows:

"One factor to look for would be a correlation between each state’s abortion rate and its crime rate. Sure enough, the states with the highest abortion rates in the 1970s experienced the greatest crime drops in the 1990s, while states with low abortion rates experienced smaller crime drops. (This correlation exists even when controlling for a variety of factors that influence crime: a state’s level of incarceration, number of police, and its economic situation.) Since 1985, states with high abortion rates have experienced a roughly 30 percent drop in crime relative to low-abortion states. (New York City had high abortion rates and lay within an early-legalizing state, a pair of facts that further dampen the claim that innovative policing caused the crime drop.) Moreover, there was no link between a given state’s abortion rate and its crime rate before the late 1980s—when the first cohort affected by legalized abortion was reaching its criminal prime—which is yet another indication that Roe v. Wade was indeed the event that tipped the crime scale."

There were two main aspects that stood out in this excerpt. First were the two parenthetical phrases. These points of clarification provide the context required to create such an argument; giving a complete picture of the situation. The first phrase dispels a possible claim that the low crime rates could have been affected by each state's law enforcement situation. The second phrase relates back to an example used earlier to show that the claim that "innovative police strategies" was the cause of the crime drop is, in fact, false. Finally, the dashes at the end of the passage, each provide a stopping point for the reader to stop and consider the statement. These provide a final punch to the passage, which finishes with a rock solid statement, backed up by all the information provided in the passage.