Freak...aaaaaahhaauuggh...onomics...

I read (rather flew over) Freakonomic a few days ago. The book is a totally captivating read, but it left me nowhere at the end! The authors claim that the book is not meant to lead anywhere, just make the people aware of the economic problems in modern society. It is a collection of articles written by the authors in some dailies in US. Interesting as they are, the book should have been released as a collection, with a less glamorous title. I believe they have shirked from the responsibility of editing & compiling a meaningful document, which is what it could have been.

The authors demonstrate (Using simple economics / math) how:

- real estate agents dont care how much more we could get on our property, while they sell their own for the best prices

- Ku klux klan is a money laundering / frustrated people's society

- Drug dealers at the lower heirarchy dont earn enough to live while their bosses are filthy rich

- Your name can make or break your life

- Parents have no active role to play in a child's life (but a lot genetically)

- Crime rate in US has dropped due to legalizing abortion

etc etc etc

Each of this is simple to read, although stretched beyond its reading length. The economist, I feel, should have been more responsible to atleast demonstrate some of his skills beyond data collection & basic manipulation (which any statistics student can easily do...)

If data is what they were trying to manipulate, i suggest one look at the graphic work of Hans Rosling (www.ted.com) who shows the differences & similarities in growth patterns of countries around the world, birth rates, infant mortality, etc. More importantly, he teaches a method of graphic interpretation for laypersons, which Freakonomics overshoots completely!