When to Rob a Bank: ...and 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-Intended Rants
- Downloads：6123
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-13 05:52:25
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Steven D. Levitt
- ISBN：0062451936
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Reviews
Cyndi
，
Why haven’t I read or been following the Freakonomics books or podcast all along？
Steve
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It was okay。 Glad I only spent $3 on it。
Daniela Solha
，
Em poucas palavras: um compilado das postagens do blog dos autores de Freakonomics。 Mantenho a ressalva de ser um livro totalmente ambientado nos EUA e com soluções esdrúxulas para questões variadas。 É necessária a mente aberta para devida apreciação。。。Segue menor nota desse ano！
Jordan
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Some great snippets。 But it’s just a collection of blog posts
Matt Davis
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Though this book includes several interesting moments， it would benefit from greater development of the long-running Freakonomics blog posts rather than simply including them verbatim。
Vivek Gala
，
Perhaps I’m being too harsh， I had high expectations。 It’s still a really interesting read with a lot of cool stuff that I learnt from。 It just wasn’t as fascinating as the original Freakonomics books。
Kellie
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“Rants” is truly an apt word for this book （and its even in the title）！ Utterly disappointed with the lack of data-driven analytics and insights I’ve come to expect from Freakinomics。
Sofia Jeličić
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fun and easy to read， no big ideas though。 found myself disagreeing plenty
Xin Yan
，
Just like Freakonomics （and SuperFreakonomics， and basically every book in this series that these duo has ever profited from）， Levitt and Dubner never fail to apply certain theories of economics in such unconventional ways， it's easy to forget that they actually have PhDs in the subject。 This book was just as enjoyable a read as Freakonomics， but in even more digestible bits， which though makes for a fun and enjoyable read， perhaps left me quite unsatisfied as well。 However， you can't count on L Just like Freakonomics （and SuperFreakonomics， and basically every book in this series that these duo has ever profited from）， Levitt and Dubner never fail to apply certain theories of economics in such unconventional ways， it's easy to forget that they actually have PhDs in the subject。 This book was just as enjoyable a read as Freakonomics， but in even more digestible bits， which though makes for a fun and enjoyable read， perhaps left me quite unsatisfied as well。 However， you can't count on Levitt and Dubner to ever release a book that compromises the fun for more technicalities， so this is expected I guess。 。。。more
Bethany
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This won't be for everyone， just like Freakonomics was not for everyone。 But you will laugh， you may cry， you'll add a few recommendations to your reading list， and you might learn a little something。 It's a collection of some of their best blog entries over the years， with some commentary and updates。 The audio book is great， authors read most of it and it makes it even more personal and enjoyable。 Worth checking out if you liked Freakonomics。 This won't be for everyone， just like Freakonomics was not for everyone。 But you will laugh， you may cry， you'll add a few recommendations to your reading list， and you might learn a little something。 It's a collection of some of their best blog entries over the years， with some commentary and updates。 The audio book is great， authors read most of it and it makes it even more personal and enjoyable。 Worth checking out if you liked Freakonomics。 。。。more
Elaine Herdman- Colan
，
Need to read the two previous Freakonomics books first。 Compilation of blog posts and references to past book material。 Some snippets were better than others
DoeJoe
，
Nice substitute when waiting for the next Freakonomics podcast episode; anyone expecting stories and research on the same level as in the main Freakonomics books （or the podcast） is， however， going to be somewhat disappointed， I fear。
Jessy
，
This book isn’t as great as its freakonomics predecessors。 It was hard to read; because there was so much jumping around I found mind often wandering。 I don’t think I can recall much of what I read and I’m disappointed that it didn’t read like the freakonomics collection。 I was not captivated。
Martin
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What a disapointment。。。 After 3 great books， then comes this one。 Well， maybe this shows what a difference in quality between blog posts and actual books。
Emma Grayson
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economists who wrote Freakonomics， a collection of blog posts from the freakonomics book spanning from 2005 to 2015 great read really provocative and interesting excerpts from inside the minds of fascinating economists
Sam Still Reading
，
I should probably credit the Freakonomics team with partially leading me to studying economics。 Of course， I could also blame them for the opportunity cost of having less money （paying for university fees） and less leisure time （because I was studying）。 But weirdly enough， I did gain utility throughout it all， including reading this collection of their blog posts。 If you’ve read these online， you could be familiar with a few but I’m really bad at catching up with blog posts so the time and money I should probably credit the Freakonomics team with partially leading me to studying economics。 Of course， I could also blame them for the opportunity cost of having less money （paying for university fees） and less leisure time （because I was studying）。 But weirdly enough， I did gain utility throughout it all， including reading this collection of their blog posts。 If you’ve read these online， you could be familiar with a few but I’m really bad at catching up with blog posts so the time and money investment was worth it。The main difference with When to Rob a Bank （spoiler: it’s not when you would think） is that the topics and posts are shorter。 This can be great if you’ve got five minutes to read， but occasionally disappointing if you want to know lots more。 Fortunately， there is a collection of references at the back to look into your favourite topics。 The shorter posts are also useful if you just want to know the simple answer （like why kiwifruit are really cheap in the US）。 The book is organised into chapters with a loose link between them all， but I thought the best chapter was the collection of posts that didn’t fit under any other titles。 I read this midweek and I found the format worked in well with ad breaks， reading during boring news segments etc。 Also， if you aren’t particularly interested in a subject， you can skip or skim it， without feeling that you’ve missed out。 Some of the topics aren’t as well thought out as others， but as they are short， I don’t think they need to be。 Sometimes they are more of a story than a lesson in economics and that’s OK too。 Maybe one of them will spark off an idea for a great study on that topic。 If you want your Freakonomics to be in-depth， I’d recommend the earlier books。 For shorter musings， this is your book。 Either way， all are easy to read with interesting observations on the mundane to the odd。http://samstillreading。wordpress。com 。。。more
Whitney Willis
，
This book is so bad。 I didn’t make it very far before I put it down。 I just couldn’t endure it。 Random anecdotal stories from Levitt’s life that are unscientific and pointless， and ideas about improving democracy that seem ill-conceived and thought up by a 2nd grader （paying politicians more to make the job seem more legitimate？ Really？？？！）。 If these ideas had robust research to back them up， they would have swayed me， but unfortunately they didn’t。 Also you can read all of these on their blog， This book is so bad。 I didn’t make it very far before I put it down。 I just couldn’t endure it。 Random anecdotal stories from Levitt’s life that are unscientific and pointless， and ideas about improving democracy that seem ill-conceived and thought up by a 2nd grader （paying politicians more to make the job seem more legitimate？ Really？？？！）。 If these ideas had robust research to back them up， they would have swayed me， but unfortunately they didn’t。 Also you can read all of these on their blog， something I didn’t know before I purchased， so kind of waste of money unless you really want to support the authors。 。。。more
Craig Statucki
，
Generally speaking， I have enjoyed all of the Freakinomics books and enjoyed a lot of the content in this one， but not a fan of the format。 The one perk of the format was that when I was tired of reading， I could stop in the middle of the chapter。 The fishing story was a good choice to finish the book。
Matt
，
Another make you think audiobook- this time they're reading blog entries they have compiled from their long-running， on-line blog。 Great stuff。 You either like these authors or think they're crazy。 Another make you think audiobook- this time they're reading blog entries they have compiled from their long-running， on-line blog。 Great stuff。 You either like these authors or think they're crazy。 。。。more
Ulrik Green
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Really funny， smart and make me think 🙂
Remo
，
Recopilación de las mejores entradas del blog de Freakonomics al cumplir sus primeros 10 años de vida。 No me convence el estilo blog para los libros de esta pareja， porque hay muchas entradas que son del estilo "pues yo creo que deberíamos poner un impuesto al sexo"。 Y hala， yastá。 Y no nos cuentan ni qué dijeron los lectores， ni en qué fundamentan la afirmación， ni nada。 Hay un montón de las 131 entradas que están claramente cojas porque les falta la interacción y/o la justificación。 En sus lib Recopilación de las mejores entradas del blog de Freakonomics al cumplir sus primeros 10 años de vida。 No me convence el estilo blog para los libros de esta pareja， porque hay muchas entradas que son del estilo "pues yo creo que deberíamos poner un impuesto al sexo"。 Y hala， yastá。 Y no nos cuentan ni qué dijeron los lectores， ni en qué fundamentan la afirmación， ni nada。 Hay un montón de las 131 entradas que están claramente cojas porque les falta la interacción y/o la justificación。 En sus libros los autores intentan dejarlo todo razonado y cerrado。 Aquí， al abrirse al público， lo de razonar es secundario。 Entre las cosas que me han llamado la atención:- La Hacienda de los USA （el IRS， Internal Revenue Service） ha contratado a agencias de recobros para ayudarles a recuperar deudas impagadas。 Las agencias privadas se quedan alrededor del 25% de lo que recuperen。 Eso solo puede pasar en un país donde la penetración bancaria es ínfima。 En España puedes congelarle las cuentas y embargarle al 80% de la población， calculo。 No te hacen falta agencias de recobro si eres Hacienda。- El problema de los retrasos de los vuelos en Nueva York， dicen los pilotos， no es que haya pocos aeropuertos （3） sino que uno de ellos， La Guardia， interfiere con los otros dos （JFK y Newark） en los patrones de aproximación。 Pero La Guardia， al ladito de Manhattan， es el favorito de mucha gente que vive en Manhattan y que tiene mucha influencia， y por ello es poco probable que cierre pronto。 - "Si hay una cosa en la que el mercado es bueno es en asignar personas a puestos de trabajo。 Y lo hace por la vía de fijación de salarios"。 - Hay varios estudios que concluyen que a medida que se paga más a los funcionarios y a los políticos， su calidad， de acuerdo con una serie de parámetros razonados， aumenta。 - Hace unos años un empleado de CocaCola robó la fórmula y se la ofreció a Pepsi。 Pepsi， inmediatamente， denunció al empleado y devolvió la fórmula a CocaCola。 Los autores razonan qeu si Pepsi hiciera una "Coca pepsi"， es decir， marca pepsi pero idéndtica composición que la CocaCola， habría desarrollado lo que ls economistas llaman un sustituto perfecto， y cuando dos bienes son sustitutos perfectos en la mente del consumidor， la única cosa que lso diferencia es el precio， por lo que se suele iniciar una guerra de precios que no beneficia a ninguna de las partes。 A lo mejor los de Pepsi devolvieron la fórmula porque eran buenos economistas。 - Los autores tienen un artículo de 2005 argumentando contra la subida sin fin que muchos predecían para el petróleo。 En efecto， pocos años después el petróleos se desplomó。 Mucho。 - "The study concludes， not surprisingly， that the spike in obesity mostly has to do with the abundance of very cheap， very tasty food"- El servicio postal de los USA entrega muchas cartas sin sello porque no les compensa， para las pocas "ilegales" que hay， tener un sistema que detecte todas las que se cuelan （yo no sé si es muy comunista lo de pensar que a lo mejor merece la pena invertir un poco más en cosas como esta， en la que es el Estado -o una empresa estatal- el que debe comprobar que las cosas están bien hechas， no para dejar de ser ultraeficiente sino para dar ejemplo de que las normas están para cumplirse）。 - Los autores muestran que la designación de una especie como protegida tiene efectos bastante negativos sobre ella， porque hace que toda aquella construcción/desarrollo susceptible de verse afectada por la designación de un hábitat como zona protegida pase a ejecutarse lo antes posible mientras se debate la protección o no de la zona propuesta como hábitat， dañando el ecosistema más （en el corto plazo） que si no se hubiera propuesto nada。 - Según varios estudios， se genera mucho más consumo innecesario de energía por tirar alimentos que por usar un empaquetado excesivo （que los hay）。- Cuándo robar un banco， la que le da título al libro， habla de la cantidad de atracos que hay al año en los USA （5000）， qué día es el más habitual （~1000 atracos en viernes， seguido de martes， jueves ， lunes， miércoles con 800 y pico cada uno）， la media de botín si se atraca por la mañana o por la tarde （5。000 vs 3。700 USD）， la probabilidad de ser detenido en un atraco （35%）， y otro montón de datos interesantes。 - ¿Por qué en los USA hay tantas muertes por arma de fuego？ El factor que más influye es la libre disposición de armas de fuego。 Estudio tras estudio muestra que el control de armas reduciría la espectacular cifra anual de 40。000 muertos al año （15。000 homicidios， 25。000 suicidios）。 - Habitualmente nuestros intereses personales están en contra del bien común。 Por eso todo el mundo se levanta cuando hay una jugada interesante en el estadio o todo el mundo habla cada vez más alto en la fiesta para hacerse oír， perjudicando a los demás y acabando todos peor de lo que estaban。 Solamente en un mercado competitivo los intereses generales y particulares se alinean a la perfección para producir el mejor precio de compra y de venta para ambos grupos。 - Los autores plantean la hipótesis de que las películas de animación emplean a grandes estrellas como dobladores por el mismo motivo que los Starbucks se colocan en zonas muy premium: para hacerete llegar el mensaje de que "esta peli lo va a petar tanto que hasta ponemos a Will Smith y Tom Hanks a hacer las voces"。 Hay unas cuantas más。 Ahora que repaso el comentario veo que el libro es muy entretenido。 He echado en falta alguna explicación más en varias entradas， pero de las 132 hay muchas que están muy bien。 。。。more
Josh Miller
，
very underwhelming。
ARTURO LOPEZ
，
Un blog hecho libro。 Ni tuvieron que esforzarse。
Hind
，
No particularly entertaining nor gripping。。
Steven Haiser
，
Mindless enjoymentI shouldn’t say mindless。 The book makes you ponder some ideas and situations。 It does not require much effort and can be enjoyed in drive and drabs。
Blair
，
Meh。 I think the format of this is important; it was really hard to listen to as it came across as very disjointed。 Which it is - a collection of blog posts。 I maybe would have enjoyed it more in physical form where I could dip in and out of it。 Still， these guys are always fascinating and I always walk away having learned something。 Solid 3。
John Richard
，
Prob a 3。5。 Liked freakanomics a bit better， but this was still great and makes for good “sitting on the toilet” reading material。 For my brain I love thought provoking economic and logic type things， so I fled through this and found it really entertaining。 Not super well connected or organized though as it’s basically just slightly organized blog posts。
Robyn
，
LOVED IT！ But Levitt and I think in snippets and bullets。 I love statistics and the economic angle of life and this book is very insightful and entertaining！ I love how they group topics that only have a single thread between them。。。 so if you are expecting a novel。。。 this might be disappointing。 But I thought it was an easy and enjoyable read！ 4 starsHappy Reading！
Grant
，
This was like reading a gossip mag for guys on the I fucking love science Facebook page。
Greg
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