聽好書學(xué)英語-經(jīng)管類freakonomics

A fun, interesting, and provocative book.（Andrew S. Weber ）
    
While I'm not generally inclined to read economics books, Freakonomics is very, very accessible. The book is written in clear, readily understandable language (including the best description I've ever seen of regression analysis, causality, and correlation). The topics discussed are quite interesting - why crime REALLY went down in the 90's, the impact parents can REALLY have on their kids, and several others. Whether one ultimately agrees with the authors' conclusions or not, the book certainly encourages you to think about everyday things more critically and not just accept the conventional wisdom. 
My only disappointment is that the book wasn't longer!

一本有趣而且激進(jìn)的書.（Andrew S. Weber ）

盡管我一般不想讀經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的書籍，但是《魔鬼經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)》真的是非常非常通俗易懂。這本書的語言清晰、易懂（包括我見過的對經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退的分析、因果關(guān)系、相互關(guān)系的最好描述）。書里討論的話題十分有趣——為什么在90年代犯罪率降低了一大截？父母對孩子會(huì)有多大影響？等等。不管你最終同不同意作者的觀點(diǎn)，這本書絕對會(huì)讓你更加批判地看待日常生活中的事情，再也不會(huì)輕易接受傳統(tǒng)智慧。
我唯一的失望就是：這本書太短了！

Good Point（D. T. Jones ）    
In a nutshell, I liked this; it looked at many things that seem to cross the minds of normal and abnormal people. We can look at much in the world and wonder why, where, and what for. It certainly blows the doors off of several issues and ideas that many folks seemed to take for granted. I found this information and the conclusions drawn in this book very enlightening and useful. I can now see how and why some folks are destined to succeed, many more are going to fail without truly understanding that they could change just one thing about themselves, if not to merely wreck the conventional wisdom that seems to be prevalent everywhere today.

 "Steven Levitt has the most interesting mind in America, and reading Freakonomics is like going for a leisurely walk with him on a sunny summer day, as he waves his fingers in the air and turns everything you once thought to be true inside out. Prepare to be dazzled."
- Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink

（D. T. Jones ）    

簡單地說，我喜歡這本書；它探討了很多平常人或者不平常的人似乎曾經(jīng)想過的問題。我們對這個(gè)世界上的很多事情都想問個(gè)為什么、哪里、為何。我當(dāng)然曾經(jīng)拒絕過很多人想當(dāng)然以為正確的一些論點(diǎn)和觀念。我發(fā)現(xiàn)這本書里的結(jié)論很有啟迪意義也很有用。現(xiàn)在我能理解為什么有些人注定要成功；而更多人注定失敗，其實(shí)他們不懂，他們只需要改變身上一個(gè)地方就能獲得成功，如果不是想要顛覆當(dāng)今流行的那些傳統(tǒng)智慧的話。
“史蒂芬.列維特?fù)碛腥绹钣腥さ拇竽X。閱讀《魔鬼經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)》就像是在一個(gè)陽光燦爛的夏日午后與他一起放松地散步，聽他在空中揮舞著手臂將你曾以為正確的一切徹底翻查一遍。做好準(zhǔn)備，你將會(huì)暈頭轉(zhuǎn)向。”
——馬爾柯姆.格萊德維爾，《訣竅》和《眨眼之間》的作者

"If Indiana Jones were an economist, he'd be Steven Levitt. The most recent winner of the John Bates Clark award for the best economist under the age of 40, Mr. Levitt is famous not as a master of dry technical arcane but as a maverick treasure hunter who relies for success on his wit, pluck and disregard for conventional wisdom. Mr. Levitt's typical quarry is hidden not in some exotic locale but in a pile of data. His genius is to take a seemingly meaningless set of numbers, ferret out the telltale pattern and recognize what it means.

It was Mr. Levitt who nailed a bunch of Chicago public-school teachers for artificially inflating their students' standardized test scores. I'm dying to tell you exactly how he did it, but I don't want to spoil any surprises. His account of the affair in "Freakonomics" reads like a detective novel." (more)
- Steven E. Landsburg, Wall Street Journal

“如果印第安娜.瓊斯是一個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家，那她肯定就是史蒂芬.列維特。列維特是40歲以下克拉克最佳經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)獎(jiǎng)的最新獲得者，他不是一個(gè)研究枯燥的專業(yè)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的神秘專家，而是一位特立獨(dú)行的尋寶者。他的成功依賴于他的機(jī)智、勇氣和對傳統(tǒng)的漠視；他的知識來源于數(shù)據(jù)，而不是什么奇異的地方；他的天才就在于能夠抓住一堆看起來沒有意義的數(shù)字，搜尋它們的真實(shí)形式，識別它們的意義所在。
列維特先生查到一群芝加哥公立學(xué)校的老師人為地提高學(xué)生的考試分?jǐn)?shù)。我很想告訴你他是怎么做到的，但是我可不想破壞他留給你們的驚喜，他對這件事的描述讀起來就像一篇偵探小說?。?rdquo;（更多）
——史蒂芬.蘭斯伯格，《華爾街日報(bào)》

"In an age of too much wishful, faith-based conventional wisdom on the right and left, and too much intellectual endeavor squeezed into prefab ideological containers, Freakonomics is politically incorrect in the best, most essential way. Levitt and Dubner suss out all kinds of surprising truths -- sometimes important ones, sometimes merely fascinating ones -- by means of a smart, deep, rigorous, open-minded consideration of facts, with a fearless disregard for whom they might be upsetting. This is bracing fun of the highest order."
- Kurt Andersen, host of public radio's Studio 360 and author of Turn of the Century

“當(dāng)今這個(gè)時(shí)代，無論是右派還是左派，都充滿了想望的、以信念為基礎(chǔ)的傳統(tǒng)智慧，很多知識都被裝進(jìn)了預(yù)制好的意識形態(tài)的集裝箱。從本質(zhì)上來說，《魔鬼經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)》在政治上是錯(cuò)誤的。列維特和都伯納調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)了各種各樣的驚人的事實(shí)——有時(shí)候是很重要的事實(shí)，有時(shí)候只是吸引人的事實(shí)——他們以聰明、深刻、嚴(yán)肅、開明的方式思考這些事實(shí)，他們不在乎也許會(huì)惹惱某些人?？傊@本書有著最高級別的樂趣，振奮人心。”
——庫爾特.安徒生，360度廣播的主持人和《世紀(jì)之交》的作者