Economics Books

Review: Superfreakonomics is a fascinating exploration of unconventional economic principles that will challenge your preconceived notions. Levitt and Dubner dive deep into controversial topics, presenting mind-bending truths that are backed by unexpected economic insights. From discussing the surprising risks of walking drunk to the intriguing dynamics between prostitutes and policemen, this book will keep you engaged from start to finish. Prepare to have your perspective shifted and your assumptions shattered as you explore the hidden side of societal issues.

Superfreakonomics could be a good read for curious minds who are fascinated by unconventional and thought-provoking ideas. With its revolutionary research and original studies, this book challenges our existing beliefs and offers fresh insights into how the world functions. From exploring the surprising link between climate change and prostitution to proposing unconventional solutions for suicide bombers, Superfreakonomics stimulates critical thinking and invites readers to question commonly accepted norms. Whether you're interested in economics or simply enjoy exploring unconventional topics, this book is bound to expand your perspective and ignite stimulating conversations.

Since its founding in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been an increasingly large part of the life of Southeast Asia, although most people in the region know very little about it. ASEAN has helped bring peace and stability to the region. It has successfully engaged the world's major powers, in East Asia and beyond. ASEAN has taken steps to integrate the regional economy as an important means of cooperatively improving the region's competitiveness, attracting investments, generating jobs, raising incomes, and lowering costs and prices. ASEAN has also formed networks for dealing with regional problems like communicable diseases, environmental degradation, and transnational crime. An essential part of the Southeast Asia Background Series, this book seeks to shed some light on what ASEAN is all about.

Why did the size of the U.S. economy increase by 3 percent on one day in mid-2013--or Ghana's balloon by 60 percent overnight in 2010? Why did the U.K. financial industry show its fastest expansion ever at the end of 2008--just as the world's financial system went into meltdown? And why was Greece's chief statistician charged with treason in 2013 for apparently doing nothing more than trying to accurately report the size of his country's economy? The answers to all these questions lie in the way we define and measure national economies around the world: Gross Domestic Product. This entertaining and informative book tells the story of GDP, making sense of a statistic that appears constantly in the news, business, and politics, and that seems to rule our lives--but that hardly anyone actually understands.Diane Coyle traces the history of this artificial, abstract, complex, but exceedingly important statistic from its eighteenth- and nineteenth-century precursors through its invention in the 1940s and its postwar golden age, and then through the Great Crash up to today. The reader learns why this standard measure of the size of a country's economy was invented, how it has changed over the decades, and what its strengths and weaknesses are. The book explains why even small changes in GDP can decide elections, influence major political decisions, and determine whether countries can keep borrowing or be thrown into recession. The book ends by making the case that GDP was a good measure for the twentieth century but is increasingly inappropriate for a twenty-first-century economy driven by innovation, services, and intangible goods.

Librarian note: An alternative cover for this ISBN can be found here.The Freakquel is here. In Superfreakonomics Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner look deeper, question harder and uncover even more hidden truths about our world, from terrorism to shark attacks, cable TV to hurricanes. They ask, among other things: ~What's a sure-fire way to catch a terrorist? ~Are people hard-wired for altruism or selfishness? ~Which cancer does chemotherapy work best for? ~Why is combating global warming easier than we think? Sometimes, the most superfreaky solution is the simplest.~from the back cover