If you’ve read Freakonomics and enjoyed it, you’ll enjoy SuperFreakonomics. It’s more of the same, although with different insights and stories. And this time, the authors admit that there is a unifying theme to the book, and that it is more than just a collection of random stories. The theme? That incentives or disincentives work at influencing human behavior. We make decisions based on what benefits us, and sometimes we aren’t quite as rational as perhaps pure economic theory would suggest. It’s basically economic theory with a dash of psychology and sociology thrown in.

I enjoyed this book. It’s a bit heavy on some themes (they cover prostitution far more than I really care to hear about) but is overall fast moving and fun. They certainly know how to take on some sacred cows and lambast “conventional wisdom”, from global warming to safety minded parents. But that’s part of the fun of the book; even if you disagree, the authors get you to think.

One word of warning. If you buy the audiobook, as I did, you don’t want to play this on your car’s CD player if there are kids in the car. The description of prostitution is graphic enough to cause some very uncomfortable moments if kids happen to hear it!