Reflection Of The Book 'Freakonomics'
Tushar Sharma
Economics 101
Matt Scammell
February 12, 2017
Word Count-766 Summery
My overall reflection of this book after reading the first three chapters is that, through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is at root, the study of incentives how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of well, everything. What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and if the right questions are asked is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking.
Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. In the first chapter, the question "What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?” is answered, in which, Levitt segues into an in-depth discussion of incentives. He defines them as the way people get what they want or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. We learn to respond to incentives from a young age, such as rewards for studying hard and getting good grades, and punishments for bad behaviour. The point that I liked in this chapter was that if the economy were allowed to work untouched, then
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