Freakonomics

Levitt and Dubner's premise is disarmingly simple: economics isn't really about money, it's about incentives, and if you follow the incentives with enough rigor and curiosity you can explain phenomena that look, on the surface, to have nothing to do with markets at all. The book's real subject is the gap between what people say motivates them and what the data shows actually does — and the authors treat that gap as the most interesting puzzle in the world.

It matters because it models a way of thinking rather than delivering a single thesis. Levitt's contrarian data-mining and Dubner's storytelling turn dry statistical detective work — comparing sumo wrestlers' win rates, tracking real-estate agents' word choices, correlating crime rates with an unlikely 1970s legal decision — into something closer to a page-turner, and in doing so make a case for skepticism toward conventional wisdom as a life skill, not just an academic exercise.

Who should read it

Anyone who enjoys being surprised by data, or who suspects that the official explanation for something is rarely the real one, will enjoy this book. It's also a good entry point for readers intimidated by economics, since there's barely an equation in it.

About the author

Steven D. Levitt is an American economist and University of Chicago professor known for applying economic analysis to unconventional topics; Stephen J. Dubner is a journalist and author who co-wrote the book based on a profile he'd written of Levitt for the New York Times Magazine.