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Steven D. Levitt

Born: 1967
Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Levitt lives in Chicago and is a professor at the University of Chicago.

Biography: Steven D. Levitt graduated from Harvard University in 1989 with his B.A. in economics, and received his Ph.D. in economics from MIT in 1994. He is currently the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor and the director of The Becker Center on Price Theory at the University of Chicago. In 2004 he won the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded bi-annually by the American Economic Association to the most promising U.S. economist under the age of 40.


Awards:

Primary Literary Genre(s): Non-Fiction

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers

Email: slevitt@uchicago.edu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevenlevitt
Website: http://www.freakonomics.com
Steven D. Levitt on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=steven++d.+levitt


Selected Titles

Freakonomics :
ISBN: 0739462563 OCLC: 70702450

William Morrow, New York : ©2005.

"In an age of too much wishful, faith-based conventional wisdom on the right and left, and too much intellectual endeavor squeezed into prefab ideological containers, Freakonomics is politically incorrect in the best, most essential way. Levitt and Dubner suss out all kinds of surprising truths--sometimes important ones, sometimes merely fascinating ones--by means of a smart, deep, rigorous, open-minded consideration of facts, with a fearless disregard for whom they might be upsetting. This is bracing fun of the highest order"--Book description.

Freakonomics :
ISBN: 9780141019017 OCLC: 505359091

Penguin, London : 2005.

Asking provocative and profound questions about human motivation and contemporary living and reaching some astonishing conclusions, 'Freakonomics' will make you see the familiar world through a completely original lens.

Superfreakonomics :
ISBN: 0061941220 OCLC: 643082353

William Morrow, New York : ©2010.

This full-color illustrated and expanded edition of the "New York Times" bestseller adds a visual, superfreaky dimension to the already provocative thinking that made "Freakonomics" and "SuperFreakonomics" part of the national zeitgeist.

  Superfreakonomics :
ISBN: 9780141972916 OCLC: 963858894

The New York Times bestselling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling more than four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with Superfreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first. SuperFreakonomics challenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as: How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa? What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common? Can eating kangaroo save the planet? Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else. By examining how people respond to incentives, they show the world for what it really is--good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky. Freakonomics has been imitated many times over--but only now, with SuperFreakonomics, has it met its match.

Think like a freak :
ISBN: 0062218336 OCLC: 870699040

The Freakonomics books have come to stand for something: challenging conventional wisdom; using data rather than emotion to answer questions; and learning to unravel the world's secret codes. Now Levitt and Dubner have gathered up what they have learned and turned it into a practical toolkit for thinking differently -- thinking, that is, like a Freak. Whether you are interested in the best way to improve your odds in penalty kicks, or in major global reforms, here is a blueprint for an entirely new way to solve problems. Along the way, you'll learn how the techniques of a Japanese hot-dog-eating champion can help you, the reason an Australian doctor swallowed a batch of dangerous bacteria, why Nigerian email scammers make a point of saying they're from Nigeria, and why Van Halen's demanding tour contract banning brown M & Ms was really a safety measure. You'll learn why sometimes it's best to put away your moral compass, and smarter to think like a child. You will be given a master class in incentives -- because for better or worse, incentives rule our world. And you will learn to quit before you fail, because you can't solve tomorrow's problem if you aren't willing to abandon today's dud.

Think like a freak :
ISBN: 9780141980119 OCLC: 913792524

When to rob a bank :
ISBN: 0062385801 OCLC: 908192552

A curated collection from the most readable economics blog in the universe. Over the past decade, Levitt and Dubner freely admit that most of their posts were rubbish. But now they've gone through and picked the best of the best. You'll discover what people lie about, and why; the best way to cut gun deaths; why it might be time for a sex tax; and, yes, when to rob a bank. (Short answer: never; the ROI is terrible.).

When to rob a bank :
ISBN: 9780141980980 OCLC: 951157521

Why don't flight attendants get tipped? If you were a terrorist, how would you attack? And why does KFC always run out of fried chicken? Over the past decade, the blogs of Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have entertained us and changed the way we understand the world. Now the very best of these have been carefully curated into a book - with added extras - for the millions of readers who love all things Freakonomics. When to Rob a Bank demonstrates the counterintuitive, irreverent brilliance that has made Levitt and Dubner's books an international sensation.

 

 

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