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SuperFreakonomics

Book Short: Sloppy Sequel

Book Short:  Sloppy Sequel SuperFreakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, wasnโ€™t a bad book, but it wasnโ€™t nearly as good as the original Freakonomics, either.  I always find the results of โ€œnaturally controlled experimentsโ€ and taking a data-driven view of the world to be very refreshing.  And as much as I like the social scientist versions of these kinds of books like Malcolm Gladwellโ€™s The Tipping Point and Blink (book; blog post), thereโ€™s usually something about reading something data driven written by a professional quant jock thatโ€™s more reassuring. Thatโ€™s where SuperFreakonomics fell down a bit for me.  Paul Krugman has described the book in a couple different places as โ€œsnarky and contrarian.โ€  I typically enjoy books that carryโ€ฆ