Steven Levitt, co-author of “Freakonomics,” spoke on campus Tuesday night. The book explains economics in a non-traditional way, including comparing real estate agents to the KKK and the affect of Roe v. Wade’s effect on crime.
A popular co-author told a packed crowd how to experience economics in a nontraditional manner.
Steven Levitt, of the popular book “Freakonomics,” visited Oklahoma State University on Tuesday evening for the first time in his career. The turnout and enthusiasm expressed toward his appearance suggests the first impression was a positive one.
“It was really interesting to hear the new stories for the new book,” said Clayton Smith, an agricultural economics senior.
Levitt, a professor at the University of Chicago, spent most of the night doing what he enjoys most: sparking passionately obscure thoughts in the minds of those he chooses to associate himself with. As it turns out, this hypothetical target audience often tends to be just as radical as the experiments the Minneapolis native conducts.
Thematically, Levitt presented his ideas so that they might not only be explored individually, but also so they might motivate the interested parties to answer their own questions about the world in a way that is economically sound and practical to the everyday person.
“Economists tend to believe you can solve just about anything if you have a smart economist and the right incentives,” Levitt said.
The origin of this method of thought, which Levitt considers “a little bit different,” started with Levitt’s self-discovery that someone can achieve something in a nonconventional manner.
Specifically, Levitt described his unusual path to becoming an economist, as he had little faith in his mathematical skills during his scholarly years.
Ranging from multiple topics, including stories about how rankings roommate likeability can turn out disastrous, to the unexpected arrival of anonymous fan mail containing U.S. currency, Levitt presented many of his curiosities to a crowd that seemed to enjoy the author’s high spirits.
What Levitt said interests him, as well as many of his colleagues, is the broad concept of why people do what they do.
“The standard assumption, if you’ve taken economics, is that people are self-interested,” Levitt said.
Additionally, Levitt noted that a driving factor behind economic studies is the question of knowing if an action a person takes is in self-interest or not.
“It is very powerful to know what people’s motivations are,” Levitt said.
Levitt said the core of economics is essential, but he tends to promote more unorthodox approaches to data collection and interpretation.
This was evident through his description of obtaining information relating to prostitution on the south side of Chicago, a topic that will be assessed in depth in his soon to be released follow-up to Freakonomics.
Many students left the Wes Watkins center satisfied with their time investment.
“It was good,” said Wilson Taylor, a graduate student in athletic administration. “Overall I enjoyed everything.”
If anything valuable was taken from Levitt’s speech Tuesday night, and considering the volatile nature of many of his topics this is a near certainty, it might be the economists statements on how his field can apply to the world through more than just statistics and numbers.
“It’s a world view,” said Levitt of economics.
Seemingly, this down to earth application is a rewarding experience for author and reader.
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