Freakonomics

Freakonomics

Introduction

Freakonomics is a book written by Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner. The book was very infamous due to the concepts and the aspects discussed in it as people find the authors to discuss the aspects in the most negative and incorrect manner. There are a number of claims that the book has made and that is the main cause behind the debate that surrounds the book. This paper will refute one of the main claims made in the book by the authors that the legalization of abortion has reduced the crime rate.

Discussion

The authors have very conveniently claimed that that legalization of abortion has reduced the crime rate in the countries; however, the statistics prove something else. A number of economists, after this book was published, undertook a study which included crime rates when people were unaware of the concept of abortion and the crime rates of that time and was compared to the set of data after abortion was legalized and the crime rates of the said era (www.lifenews.com). According to this study of the economists, it was seen that the legalization of abortion did not have any impact on the crime rates in the country.

The authors of the book, Levitt and Dubner had mentioned in their book that unwanted children grow to become criminals as not much attention is paid on them by their family. However, this claim is false and there is no study or no statistics that support this claim made by the authors. This proves that the claim made by the authors in the study is not up to the mark and that they have made a big mistake by mentioning the wrong concept in their book.

In the late 1980s, in cities like New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles the ...