Levitt And Dubner's Freakonomics

Levitt and Dubner classify Freakonomics as a book having “no such unifying theme” (14), but all the unique topics discussed throughout the text connect back together in order to show the hidden side of human nature. The argument that the wide variety of topics and their abstract descriptions all link together draws the attention of a large audience and connects to issues that society is currently facing or has recently confronted. Freakonomics is organized as an argumentative piece that asserts that “commerce without morality,” or the conducting of business without a sense of what is right or wrong, is triggered by human actions that are led by incentives and causes changes in the economy. Levitt and Dubner do not explicitly state their

The authors also wrote this book with reference to societal issues faced at the time that the piece was published, and some of which still persist today, in order to appeal to a wide range of people who appreciate knowing more unique details about current problems. When addressing the “crime rate [that] began falling in the early 1990’s” (119), Levitt and Dubner are appealing to a large audience of individuals who lived through this unforeseen occasion. Through the presentation of data to support that the legalization of abortion is the leading cause of the crime drop, the audience becomes more interested in the topic due to the believable-yet-abstract explanation. Another current issue addressed in this book that appeals to many parents or prospective parents is the “vast and diverse flock of parenting experts [that] has arisen” (147) and caused an influx of worthless parenting advice. By later going on to say that the key to good parenting lies in who a parent is and not what a parent does, a unique and appealing look into human behavior is revealed. In both of these cases, the occasion and abstract details discussed appeal to a large audience of individuals interested in reading current, unique

The legalization of abortion is a topic that is addressed in the book as a cause of the dropping crime rate; however, whether or not abortion should stay legal is an issue that America is currently facing. The idea that allowing women to get abortions dramatically dropped the crime rate causes individuals who are reading the book today to question whether outlawing abortion would cause the crime rate to rise. When discussing how both school teachers and sumo wrestlers cheated in order to make themselves appear better or to get richer, Levitt and Dubner are proving that for school teachers all over the country, not just in Chicago Public Schools; and people all over the world, even sumo wrestlers in Japan; cheating is in human nature. Levitt and Dubner address a wide range of social issues in order to make a larger connection to the nature of humans in America and in other places around the