Summary Of Freaknomics
In the fifth chapter of Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner’s book, Freaknomics, they begin by talking about parents and risk taking. The book mentions how every few years the parenting “experts” change their mind. One year they may say, “Breast feeding is the only way to guarantee a health child,” while only a few years later another expert will say that, “Bottle feeding is the answer.” The book also goes to mention that some experts say, “Spare the rod, spoil the child;” others say, “Spank the child, go to jail.” The risk for parents is that they will make a mistake that will lead to the death or detriment of their child. The chapter uses the analogy of parents and risk to convey the theme of the novel, people will respond to certain incentives,
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The article was published in 2004 after a case of mad-cow disease in the country caused an anti-beef trend. Sandman stated, “The basic reality is that the risks that scare people and the risks that kill people are very different.” He provided the New York Times with a comparison of the mad-cow disease and the spread of food-borne pathogens in a kitchen. He mentions how if you control the risk, the outrage is usually low. On the other hand, if the risk is not in your hands, such as the mad-cow disease, than outrage is usually high. You can’t tell if you meat is contaminated, however, you can use bleach to clean your countertops, you can mop your floors, and not use sponges. This explains why some people fear flying over driving their cars, as mentioned early.
Since our world grows increasing more impatient every day, fear prospers in the present. Fear is completely short term. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner reference politics to help explain this theory. Congress would be more likely to allocate funds to fight terrorism instead of heart disease, while the chance to die from a terrorist attack is extremely less likely than your chance to die from heart disease. Since a terrorist attack can happen at anytime, and heart disease will kill you very slowly; the terrorist attack seems to be a higher
The article was published in 2004 after a case of mad-cow disease in the country caused an anti-beef trend. Sandman stated, “The basic reality is that the risks that scare people and the risks that kill people are very different.” He provided the New York Times with a comparison of the mad-cow disease and the spread of food-borne pathogens in a kitchen. He mentions how if you control the risk, the outrage is usually low. On the other hand, if the risk is not in your hands, such as the mad-cow disease, than outrage is usually high. You can’t tell if you meat is contaminated, however, you can use bleach to clean your countertops, you can mop your floors, and not use sponges. This explains why some people fear flying over driving their cars, as mentioned early.
Since our world grows increasing more impatient every day, fear prospers in the present. Fear is completely short term. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner reference politics to help explain this theory. Congress would be more likely to allocate funds to fight terrorism instead of heart disease, while the chance to die from a terrorist attack is extremely less likely than your chance to die from heart disease. Since a terrorist attack can happen at anytime, and heart disease will kill you very slowly; the terrorist attack seems to be a higher