Freakonomics

I read the entire book with the exception of the long lists of names towards the end. I did skip over some of those. I may have fallen asleep at the end of a couple of the tapes. The only time I get to read is right before bed time. I have to recommend Freakonomics. It is the most interesting book that will ever be written by economists ever in my opinion.

• I did end up looking up who Ted Kaczynski is. He is used as an example in the book. I didn't realize how well educated and how good of an upbringing he had. I will probably avoid letting Elle or any of my other potential children skip a grade if that subject comes up.
  
• I learned why so many crack dealers live with their mothers.
• I learned that reading to your kids or how much they watch TV doesn't make much difference to their test scores.
• I learned adopted kids' tests scores reflect the genetic parents more than the adopted parents when it comes to test scores, but not when it comes to success in life over all.
• I learned that kids inherit more from who their parents are than what their parents do.
• I learned that kids nurturing comes from their peers, not their parents.
• I learned that the huge drop in violent crime in the early nineties was probably due to Roe vs Wade, not police, gun control or any kind of planning from politicians. Face it, unwanted babies are treated as such. In combination with the typical household that might get an abortion, you end up with a lot less criminals oh, say sixteen to twenty years later. Go figure.
  
• I learned that a book written by economists is as boring as those economists. I only finished the book with the above mentioned exceptions because I am a fact fiend.

There were tons of other bits I pulled from this book. Telling all of them would spoil the experience of those who take my recommendation. Three people recommended this book to me. Two I trusted and one I wasn't so sure about. Cynthia was very impressed. I was kind of impressed. I do like the anecdotal format. I may even look in to what other books these two have written. Maybe not.