Chunk 1 of Frekonomics (Incentives and Information)

Freakonomics, authored by the collaboration of Stephen J. Dubner, writer for the New Yorker and New York times, and Steven D. Levitt, an economics teacher in the University of Chicago, refute the common misinterpretation of today's economic issues with a more 'below the surface' analysis of the conundumn. Levit and Dubner urges the general public to use an econmists perspective when confronting problems. With simple,vulgar language Levitt and Dubner address some of the most intriguing issues with a series of economic based questions. For instance, in chapter one, the authors define the jist of economics as the study of incentives by asking what sumo wrestlers and school techers have in common. Levitt does this by describing how incentives are a "means of urging people to do more of a good thing than a bad thing", with reaserch on the rigging of high stake stanardized tests,conducted by teachers for more pay; sumo wrestling in Japan, with the 'qiud pro quo' deal. In both circumstances an incentive drives one to cheat in order to gain money. Another topic addressed in the first chunk was how the Ku Klux Klan is like a group of real-estate agents. The pupose trying to be conveyed, in this case, was how ..."nothing is more powerful than information, especially when its power is abused". Levit and Dubner apostrophized this purpose by describing how the exploitation of information single-handedly crippled the white-supremacist KKK and can prevent one from commiting a bad deal when puchasing or selling propety by serarching the 'blue book' value of the property online first, before consulting with a corrupt real estate agent. In both circumstances, the KKK and the real estate agent manipulate their victim because of their prey's ignorance. Stevin Levitt and Stephen Dubner attack intriguing issues with an economists prespective, showing how economics is not merely the dry, uninteresting study of financial trends and maket economy, but can be used as a tool to deal with everyday problems.

Tone: formal, persuasive,informative
Rhetorical strategies:

1. statistics-making an argument more credable
2. logical tone- when dicussing how the most practical awnser is not always the best awnser to the source of some problems.
3. humor/comparison- when relating two completly different fields with each other(sumo wrestlers and teachers)

Questions:

• Why don't the people educate themselves from ignorant feeding predators(i.e. corrupt real estate agents)?
• If the KKK's group has multiplied rapidly over the years then why is there a decrese in lynchings?