If you were around back when I published my review of Freakonomics, you probably know that I’m a huge fanboy of these authors. Not only that but I freely admit that the name “Weakonomics” was inspired by their play on the word “economics”.
So naturally I was stoked to learn that the authors of Freakonomics have returned for a follow-up book called “SuperFreakonomics”.
Like many of my reviews, it doesn’t do you much good to hear my thoughts on the written word. My reviews work much better as a summary. That way you can get an idea of what is contained in the book. My summary will try to focus mostly on those topics that can be related back to finance and economics, but only try.
Chapter 1: How a street prostitute is like a department store Santa
This chapter is like most in the book. It grabs you with a short headline and then you have to read the whole chapter to finally get an explanation for the comparison, which usually isn’t all that interesting. What is interesting is the studies the authors’ friend has done on prostitution. The chapter goes on to talk about how laws passed to reduce gender discrimination actually helped males get into traditionally female jobs because of the now higher wages. The best example being coaching women’s sports. The most profound idea is based on how much the government has wasted pursuing suppliers of criminal activity. These are prostitutes, drug dealers, etc. When you take out a supplier, prices rise for the rest of the market. This entices new suppliers to enter the market. Instead law enforcement should focus on the customers. The book posits that if the punishment for using a prostitute were castration, the market would dry up quickly. I would argue though that if the prostitutes were punished as severely, you’d probably see a similar end to the market. Still, this was a great chapter with lots of statistics and studies.
Chapter 2: Why suicide bombers should buy life insurance
Again, don’t really care about that. But the chapter does talk about the point of terrorism, and how it paralyzes populations with fear. For example: you’re 575 times more likely to commit suicide than you are to get killed by a terrorist, but you’re much more worried about terrorism. Another section talks about the amazing work one guy has done to make hospitals more efficient, including evidence that chest pains are a low-risk condition and shortness of breath is a high-risk condition, when it comes to patients dying within 12 months of ER admittance. And if you did want to know why they should buy life insurance, it isn’t for the payoff (suicides can be exclusions from payouts) it’s because…. well, read the book 
Chapter 3: Unbelievable stories about apathy and altruism
It’s Al Gore’s fault you can’t sell your kidney. And because people can’t sell their kidneys, tens of thousands of people in need of them go without and die.
Chapter 4: The fix is in, and it’s cheap and simple
Things that seem like a great idea now, can pan out to be bad ones in the future. The American’s with Disabilities Act was designed to protect disable Americans’ rights in the workplace. The net effect was fewer jobs for disabled people because employers were worried they wouldn’t be able to discipline or fire disabled people for fear of lawsuit. Charging for trash pickup based on volume inspired citizens to instead dump garbage elsewhere, or just cram more into bags. A trash tax in Germany caused a problem with people flushing their trash down the toilet. Whale oil used to be very popular in the US, to the point we hunted the whale almost to extinction. We ran out of oil and prices soared killing the economy. But then a guy discovered a new source of oil… in the ground.
Chapter 5: What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in common?
If nothing else, get this book for this chapter. It’s the most fascinating discussion on global warming I’ve ever read.
Though chapter 5 is the most enlightening, it’s the epilogue that is the coolest when it comes to money. Basically, you can teach monkeys to value objects that have no inherent value (in other words, teach them how to use money). But when you do, they’ll teach themselves how to rob you and whore themselves out. That’s right, read it.
All in all this is a great addition to the Freakonomics fan. The original book was so amazing that this is merely new stuff, so not as revolutionary. Doesn’t make it less awesome, just less amazing.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received my copy of the book for free from the publisher.
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Said,
Number one: I’m jealous you got you copy of the book free. I currently have it queued up on my bedside table.
Number two: I’m upset at this book for talking about life insurance and terrorism, not because they gave away a big secret but because they have messed up my searches for months. I dig deep for some of the life insurance news stories I find and when every third one is a review of this book, it makes it less fun.
There are still other ways to find these folks, and an application for life insurance includes financial underwriting that would expose its own irregularities and show more ties. Chances are, suicide bombers still won’t take out life insurance because of these reasons.