Summary Of Freakonomics

After reading the first chapter of Freakonomics, written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, I realized not only what similarities sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common, but also to what lengths they will go to receive an incentive and/or achieve their goals. It details how some teachers and sumo wrestlers cheat for their advantages. In the beginning of the chapter the authors describe the concept of incentives, initially when I began reading I thought to my self “isn’t this chapter about sumo wrestlers and teachers?” Even though it is, the authors decided to take explain some terms and back-story before diving into what they wanted to get across, which in my opinion was executed beautifully.

In 1996 high-stakes testing was implemented in schools

They also shed some light onto how the sumo community operates, explaining how the top sixty-six wrestlers are considered the sumo elite. For example the book states, “Any wrestler in the top forty earns at least $170,000 a year. The seventieth ranked wrestler in Japan, meanwhile, earns only $15,000 a year.” With each wrestler’s rank changing with every elite tournament, about every two months, cheating can help a lot of wrestlers get the eighth win they need to advance in the rankings. Obviously every time their ranking increases, so does their paycheck. So if you were a wrestler who already has eight wins and your opponent needs another win to reach eight also why not throw the match, your opponent will most likely throw the bout next time you face each other. What makes this kind of cheating even worse is the way cheating allegations are handled in the sumo community. According to the book there has never been “no formal disciplinary action has ever been taken against a Japanese sumo wrestler for match rigging,” making this type of cheating inevitable and thus making the sport of sumo wrestling an honor-less