FREAKNONOMICS, 1st Chunk

Approaching the the world of economics from a new viewpoint, Freakonomics applies the basic principles of economics to society. With the most basic of economic principles, Freakonomics is able to explain why teachers and sumo wrestlers cheat and how the KKK and real estate agents utilize agents to maximize their profits and gains. By using these examples, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner are able to explain the concept of incentives and the utilization of information that is ubiquitous in economics. Incentives run the economic world, they can either stimulate business or scare it away. Sumo wrestlers help each other out (win some and lose some(on purpose)) in order to stay in the elite class. Meanwhile teachers cheat for students on standardized tests to receive more money. Information can be used to foil the plans of a national terrorist organization or sell your own home for more profit than someone else's. Real estate agents take advantage of their knowledge and the ignorance of the average home owner to sell their home at a higher rate. The business of one bagel man, a former executive, illustrates the morality involved in economics. People feel more obligated to stay true to their morals when they're closer to the significan other, people lower on the executive ladder appear to have truer ethics than their bosses, and people neglect payment less and steal less when in a more tightly knit group. A unique book, Freakonomics is able to dissect the complicated concepts of economics and demonstrate them through practical every day occurrences and history. All this is said in the first two chapters of the book.