Module 1 discussion
Freakonomics
One of the few books about economics to recently hit the New
York Times bestseller’s list was Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner. The book was so popular they even made a
movie about it. The specialty of Levitt
and Dubner is applying economics to unconventional, controversial, or sometimes
even downright bizarre topics. Some
praise them for bringing economics to a wider audience, while others criticize
them for not tackling serious issues or for delving into overly conversional
areas.
So what’s all the fuss about? Take a look for yourself by viewing some of
their videos from YouTube, including clips from their movie, or take a look at
some articles at their blog. The links
are below:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FreakonomicsVideos/playlists
http://freakonomics.com/category/freakonomics-blog/
Choose one of the videos or blog articles that you find most
interesting, and share the link with your classmates. Discuss some of the following issues based on
what you have viewed or read:
What did you find interesting about the video or article
that you found?
Did you find anything from any of the videos or articles
that might help you understand some concepts from the class, or is their stuff
too odd or far out there to be useful for this class?
Overall, what is your impression of Levitt and Dubner? Silly?
Interesting? Bizarre? Informative? Boring? Other?
