“Freakonomics: A Rouge Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything,” is a best-selling book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dunbar. Levitt describes the book as an attempt to “peel a layer or two off the surface of modern life and see what's going on underneath.” It does this by taking two seemingly unrelated events and associating them. From comparing teachers to sumo wrestlers, to asking why crack dealers still live with their mothers, Levitt and Dunbar successfully put a twist on conventional wisdom by looking at it through very different perspectives. Unlike most books, this book does not have a central idea, in fact in the opening chapter Levitt makes it clear that it is a central idea. The main concern was to get people to question ideas and thoughts that are commonly believed to be true. One of the fundamental principles in this book is that “Incentives are the cornerstone of modern life” and that the study of economics is the study of incentives: how people get what they want or need, especially when others people want or need the same. same thing. Freakonomics reveals how incentives, motivations and risks play an important role in the daily events of our society. In the first chapter the authors ask "What do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common." Levitt starts with a daycare, drops your kids off at daycare a few minutes longer than you pay to cheat, and would fine parents who did so, preventing parents from picking up kids late. A daycare center thought this would happen and imposed a fine. Instead of falling, the last few pickups soared. Levitt goes on to explain that this is because the economic incentive was not comparable to the conflicting moral incentive that had now been removed. With the fine, parents were told that I... half the card... because of what it says about the child's parents. The last thing they noticed is that when a name becomes popular among the rich in about a decade it will no longer be popular among the rich but popular among the middle class and the middle class names will transition to the names of the lower classes. All in all the authors establish that the name does not really matter. Overall Freakemonomics was easy to read, even for people who don't read much about economics. I am able to use the fundamentals of economics to interpret almost everything in modern society. It incorporated all areas of economics in interesting ways and provided plenty of data to support the authors' ideas. Whether you agree or disagree with the authors, they have provided many unconventional ideas that will make you question what you have always considered conventional wisdom.