So, How Weird Is This World of Ours?Extremely. It's so Strange That Teachers and Sumo Wrestlers Are in Cahoots. Crime and Abortion Are Linked. And As for Estate Agents and the Ku Klux Klan . . . Jennifer Cunningham Talks to the Economist Who's Making the Bizarre His Business

The Herald › July 15, 2005

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Summary

STEVEN Levitt would rather be known as a rogue economist than an academic one. He delights in supplying answers to questions no-one ever thought to ask before, such as: What do primary school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?

What do members of the Ku Klux Klan and estate agents share?

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Extract

So, How Weird Is This World of Ours?Extremely. It's so Strange That Teachers and Sumo Wrestlers Are in Cahoots. Crime and Abortion Are Linked. And As for Estate Agents and the Ku Klux Klan . . . Jennifer Cunningham Talks to the Economist Who's Making the Bizarre His Business

And: was there a hidden factor which caused the US crime rate to plummet against all predictions in the mid-1990s?

The answers lie in Freakonomics, the catchy title of the surprise bestseller Levitt co-wrote with New York journalist Stephen J Dubner, who was intrigued by the application of economic theory to the sorts of questions generally regarded as too trivial for serious research.

What kills more children in the US - guns or swimming pools? The question does not ...

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