聽好書學英語-經管類freakonomics
- 參考譯文
"Do Sumo wrestlers cheat? Which is a whiter name for a girl, Molly or Holly? And what do crack gangs and McDonald's restaurants have in common? The answers to these and other seldom-asked questions are all here, in the funkiest study of statistical mechanics ever by a world-renowned economist. Crunching numbers too offbeat for Milton Friedman--KKK membership rolls, bagel sales figures, data from online dating services--Levitt (along with coauthor Dubner) searches for logic in the messy mathematics of human behavior. His conclusions are often eye-opening (say it ain't so, Sato!) and sometimes eye-popping (his theory that high abortion rates help reduce crime probably won't get him invited to the White House anytime soon), but in the end he never really adds it all up to a cohesive or compelling sum. Still, give the proof his props: "Freakonomics" is a lot more fun to read than anything Friedman ever wrote."
- Benjamin Svetkey, Entertainment Weekly
“相撲選手騙人嗎？莫利和霍莉哪個更像白人女孩的名字？一流的犯罪團伙和麥當勞有什么共同之處？這些極少被問起的問題就是這位世界著名的經濟學家所作的關于統(tǒng)計力學的奇怪研究。這些密密麻麻的數(shù)字對米爾頓.弗里德曼來說太奇怪了——三K黨成員名單，百吉餅銷售數(shù)字，在線年齡測定數(shù)據(jù)——列維特（與他的合著者都伯納一起）在一堆亂糟糟的人類行為的數(shù)字中尋找邏輯。他的結論往往令人大開眼界，有時令人瞠目結舌（他說，高墮胎率有益于犯罪的減少，估計這個理論在短期內不會受到白宮的歡迎），但是最終他沒有對這些進行一個相關的或者令人信服的總結。不過，引用他的支持者的話：《魔鬼經濟學》比任何弗里德曼寫的書都好看。”
——本杰明.斯維特基，《娛樂周刊》
"Forget your image of an economist as a crusty professor worried about fluctuating interest rates: Levitt focuses his attention on more intimate real-world issues, like whether reading to your baby will make her a better student. Recognition by fellow economists as one of the best young minds in his field led to a profile in the New York Times, written by Dubner, and that original article serves as a broad outline for an expanded look at Levitt's search for the hidden incentives behind all sorts of behavior. There isn't really a grand theory of everything here, except perhaps the suggestion that self-styled experts have a vested interest in promoting conventional wisdom even when it's wrong. Instead, Dubner and Levitt deconstruct everything from the organizational structure of drug-dealing gangs to baby-naming patterns. While some chapters might seem frivolous, others touch on more serious issues, including a detailed look at Levitt's controversial linkage between the legalization of abortion and a reduced crime rate two decades later. Underlying all these research subjects is a belief that complex phenomena can be understood if we find the right perspective. Levitt has a knack for making that principle relevant to our daily lives, which could make this book a hit. Malcolm Gladwell blurbs that Levitt "has the most interesting mind in America," an invitation Gladwell's own substantial fan base will find hard to resist." (starred review)
- Publishers Weekly
“忘掉你那頑固的經濟學教授的形象，別再整天擔憂波動的利率了：列維特把注意力集中在更加接近現(xiàn)實世界的問題上，例如：讀書給你的嬰孩聽是否能使他成為一個更優(yōu)秀的學生？同行的經濟學家們都認為列維特是這個領域里最優(yōu)秀的年輕專家之一，都伯納已經在《紐約時報》為他寫了人物概評，這篇原創(chuàng)的文章作為一個概括性的大綱，有助于人們進一步了解列維特對人類行為背后隱藏的動機所作的研究。事實上，這本書沒有對萬物給出偉大的理論定義，也許除了一個例外：那些自稱為專家的人有種既得權利——推廣哪怕是錯誤的傳統(tǒng)智慧；相反，都伯納和列維特拆析了很多東西，從販毒團伙的組織結構到孩子命名的模式。某些章節(jié)也許顯得有些輕佻，但是其他的都談論了嚴肅的問題，如細致地探討了列維特具有爭議性的論點，即他認為的流產合法化和隨后二十年犯罪減少之間的聯(lián)系。在所有這些研究課題之下，是列維特堅定的信念：如果我們能找到正確的視角，就能理解任何復雜的現(xiàn)象。列維特有他的訣竅使這個原理與我們的日常生活聯(lián)系起來，正因此，這本書將大賣。馬爾柯姆.格萊德威說‘有著全美最有趣的大腦’，至少格萊德威的粉絲群將會難以抗拒這個邀請。”（星級書評）
——《出版者周刊》
" Why do drug dealers live at home? Levitt (Economics/Univ. of Chicago) and Dubner (Confessions of a Hero Worshiper, 2003, etc.), who profiled Levitt for the New York Times, team up to demolish conventional wisdom.
To call Levitt a "rogue economist" may be a tad hyperbolic. Certainly this epitome of antistyle ("his appearance is High Nerd: a plaid button-down shirt, nondescript khakis and a braided belt, brown sensible shoes") views the workaday world with different eyes; the young economist teases out meaning from juxtapositions that simply would not occur to other researchers. Consider this, for instance: in the mid-1990s, just when the Clinton administration projected it was about to skyrocket, crime in the U.S. fell markedly. And why? Because, Levitt hazarded a few years ago, of the emergent effects of the Roe v. Wade decision: legalized abortion prevented the births of millions of poor people who, beset by social adversity, were "much more likely than average to become criminals." The suggestion, Dubner writes, "managed to offend just about everyone," conservative and liberal alike, but it had high explanatory value.
Levitt hasn't shied away from controversy in other realms, either, preferring to let the numbers speak for themselves: a young man named Jake will earn more job interviews than one with the same credentials named DeShawn; the TV game show The Weakest Link, like society as a whole, discriminates against the elderly and Hispanics; it is human nature to cheat, and the higher up in the organization a person rises, the more likely it is that he or she will cheat. Oh, yes, and street-level drug dealers live at home with their moms because they have to; most earn well below minimum wage but accept the bad pay and dangerous conditions to get a shot at the big time, playing in what in effect is a tournament. "A crack gang works pretty much like the standard capitalist enterprise," Levitt and Dubner write, "You have to be near the top of the pyramid to make a big wage."
“為什么販毒子還住在家里？列維特（芝加哥大學經濟系）和都伯納（《一個英雄崇拜者的自白》的作者，2003）兩個人合作，顛覆傳統(tǒng)智慧。都伯納曾在《紐約時報》發(fā)表了列維特的個人概評。
如果稱列維特為‘流氓經濟學家’也許有點夸張，當然這個反流行的典范（“他的外表相當討厭：一件領尖訂有鈕扣的襯衫，極普通的卡其褲，一條麻花狀的腰帶，褐色的鞋子”）以不同的眼光看這個世界；這位年輕的經濟學家輕易便能從并列的事物中發(fā)現(xiàn)其他研究者所不能發(fā)現(xiàn)的意義。想想這個例子：上世紀90年代中期，當克林頓政府預測犯罪將激增時，它卻明顯減少了。為什么呢？列維特在幾年之前大膽地說，這是羅伊訴維德決定的結果：人工流產合法化阻止了幾百萬貧困人口的出生，這些人如果來到世上，將飽受不幸和窮苦的困擾，而且“比平常人更容易淪落成犯罪分子。”都伯納寫道，“這個意見幾乎冒犯了所有人”，無論是保守派還是自由派，不過它確實很能說明問題。
列維特在其他領域也同樣引起很多爭議，他喜歡讓數(shù)字說話：一個名叫杰客的年輕人與具有同等資歷的名叫迪肖恩的相比，在找工作時能夠獲得更多的面試機會；電視娛樂節(jié)目“最弱的一環(huán)”，和整個社會一樣，歧視老年人和西班牙人；欺騙是人類的本性，人越是處在一個組織的上層，越有可能欺騙他人。噢，還有，街頭的毒販還和母親一起住在家里是因為他們別無選擇；大部分人賺的錢都低于最低工資，但是他們心甘情愿接受低薪和危險的工作環(huán)境，因為他們相信轉運的時刻終將來臨，最終他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這確實是一場錦標賽。列維特和都伯納寫道：“一流犯罪團伙的運作極像第一流的資本家企業(yè)。你必須爬到金字塔的頂端，才能賺大錢。”
