The importance of a parents first official actnaming the baby a boy named winner and his brother, loser the blackest names and the whitest names the segregation of culture. So first, the book offers five fundamental insights using economics. He graduated from lafayette college, and became a sargeant in the nypd. Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise. Freakonomics freakonomics a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything steven d.
So she assembled some data, which included the lists we created for our first book, freakonomics, of the whitest and blackest names among baby boys and girls. He allegedly got a police radio, ticket book and rode with an. Strangely, loser lane went on to be a pretty successful man. What was discovered in their studies is that the less educated parents are, the more predisposed they are to give their children less traditional names. Loser later investigated an incident of a young man killing people by writing their names in a notebook. Talking about this book, it is divided into six chapters, randomly talk.
Boy who was given the name winner and who turned out to have an abominable crime record. An interesting part of the chapter was the account of the father who named one of his sons winner and his last son loser. In name game, loser wins and brother winner loses chicago. So you might think that names make a big difference. When a winner makes a mistake, he says, i was wrong. A roshanda by any other name how do babies with super. It also happens to be the middle name of one of my uncles.
For levitt, morality represents the way people would like the world to work. But the book is somewhat oversimplified, because it is targeted to wide audience. The hidden side of everything 3 in which the book s central idea is set forth. Loser, a star student and athlete, went on scholarship to an elite prep school, on to lafayette college in pennsylvania, and then joined the force. The book covers lots of different topics, but chapter 6 deals with the socioeconomic patterns of baby naming.
The most notable achievement of winner lanes life was the length of his criminal record. Winner, loser and their amazing story in 1958, a new york man named robert lane decided to call his baby son winner. The provocative and entertaining freakonomics is a testament to steven d levitts eclectic approach to economics, says stephen bayley stephen bayley. A decade ago, the first freakonomics book tied together a number of bright ideas about economics and the modern world in a quirky, accessible way, and sold in vast numbers. Names do, however, reveal a lot about the people doing the naming. Does a persons first name tend to define them, mold them.
In a paper called the causes and consequences of distinctively black names, levitt and roland fryer argue that a first name doesnt seem to affect a persons economic life at all. This study guide consists of approximately 71 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of freakonomics. One became a cop and eventually was promoted to detectiveshield number 2762. But if winner lane could hardly be expected to fail, could loser lane. The story of two brothers named winner and loser sahio. In a very small way names can correlate with your personality. Chapter five of freakonomics by any other name essay. In freakonomics, the authors demonstrate the power of data mining. It may help if the criticism didnt sound needlessly bitter, which would only foster such. It was published on april 12, 2005, by william morrow.
Citing winner vs loser, its certainly not the the main determiner of success, but does,i think factor in. This might explain why, in 1958, a new york city man named robert lane decided to call his baby son winner. Levitt gives an anecdote about a new york city man named robert lane gave his son the name winner, and then named his next son loser. But for the brothers lane it was not a case of their unique names sealing their fates. The hidden side of everything in which the books central idea is set forth. Of course he and i have some similarities, but then we would have had thos. But now, we have an additional reason to not to forget this book. A new york city man, located in harlem, who named his two children winner and loser. Just like loser before her, marijuana pepsi has made. The authors make their predictions based on the popularity of these names among upperclass families in the year 2005. A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything is a treat to read, i wonder why didnt i pick it up before.
As we suggested near the beginning of this book, if morality represents an ideal world, then economics represents the actual world. This book is an eclectic collection of ingenious questions which the authors answer with the help of economic tools to refute a piece conventional wisdom or provide an unexpected explanation. In chapter 6, the authors explore the topic of names and, specifically, whether a persons given name affects his. Would young temptress still have landed in trouble if she had been named, say, chastity. Contents an explanatory note vi in which the origins of this book are clari. The writer of this blog will always have a problem criticizing a book like levitts freakonomics that book is almost incomparably more successful, more important, and better known. Name book and the title was names beyond jennifer and jason her husbands name is jason. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. The biggest loser is a book of colorful pictures, advice from the shows trainers bob harper and jillian michaels, a short explanation of the biggest loser diet plan, a 12week exercise routine, lowcarbrecipes, and remarks from the contestants of the show. The book has been described as melding pop culture with economics. The jocular screen adaptation of the 2005 best seller freakonomics. The one i liked most was that a winner is less afraid of losing, that a loser is of winning.
Robert lane who named one of his sons winner and his lastborn loser. A blog discussing the issues explored in the book by steven levitt and stephen dubner, freakonomics. If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything is the debut nonfiction book by university of chicago economist steven levitt and new york times journalist stephen j. Freakonomics a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything steven d. Regardless of whether you think the questions answered in this book are relevant or not, it was a fun read. These are the sort of questions raisedand answeredin the new book freakonomics. The book freakonomics has a great chapter about names, and they talk about real people named winner, loser, and temptress among others. The lanes, who lived in a housing project in harlem, already had several children, each with a fairly typical name.
Dubner contents an explanatory note in which the origins of this book are clarified. As you can assume, winner ended up being the unsuccessful one, having an enormous criminal background. Freakonomics chapter 6 quicktopic free message board. Does psychology show that people with the same name have.
It was usually a reader who would bring a mistake to our attention, and we very much appreciate this input. Many of their results emerge from levitts analysis of various databases, and his creativity in asking the right questions. Lane gave his son the name winner, and then named his next son loser. So the white females names were molly, amy, claire, emily, katie, madeline, katelyn and emma. The final chapter of this book discusses whether or not the name parents give their child matters. Thanks to a wide array of websites, books, and even consultants dedicated to. The story of these two brothers matched the findings of my academic research with roland fryer, which found no impact of a childs name on her life now, from the milwaukee journalsentinel, we have the story of three sisters. Perfect parenting part ii or would a roshanda by any other. Freakonomics chapter 6 and epilogue summary and analysis. Please actually read the book freakonomics before commenting on the blog.
The whole book is interesting by my fellow name nerds will appreciate chapter 6 which explains the socioeconomic patters of naming children. The final chapter of this book discusses whether or not the name. Freakonomics a rogue economist explores the hidden. Clearly he had the right ideathat naming is destinybut he must have gotten the. The book was very funny, with very true statements, one side showing the winners and how they approached problems, and the other showed how the losers had the opposite approach. So, does the name you give your child affect his life. We learn that loser, or lou as his friends call him, went to college and joined the new york police department. In either case, what kind of signal does a childs name send to the worldand most important, does it really matter. The book predicts that in the year 2015, girl names such as ava, maya, sophie, isabel, and emma will be very common, along with boy names such as carter, jackson, oliver, will, and aidan. As it happens, temptress, loser, winner and precious are all black. In a few more years he has another son and names this won loser. Contrary to what his name suggests, loser lane succeeded in life, moving up in the new york city police. Freakonomics 2010 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
Conversely, to what the name loser signified, loser who was nicknamed as lou. And it may not be true, but because of the laa story, my friend and i like to joke that next well hear about someone who named their child l. Temptress and amcher are both noted for their unusual names, and they both came to the albany. Three years later, the lanes had another baby boy, their seventh and last child. A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. The final chapter of the book will study the influence of baby names on a childs life.
A great story where a guy named his kids winner and loser to see what would happen to them. I wanna know the flower child parent who decided to name their kid that. The loser says, it may be possible but it is too difficult. The story of two brothers named winner and loser in 1958, a new york man named robert lane decided to call his baby son winner. The book drunk tank pink says your name does matter on your economic outcome if your name is easy to pronounce, you get ahead. Winner, loser, and marijuana pepsi freakonomics freakonomics. Despite his name, loser ended up being the successful one, graduated from college, and joined the nypd. By late 2009, the book had sold over 4 million copies worldwide. Next section glossary previous section freakonomics summary buy study guide. What do the experiences of winner lane, loser lane, and temptress tell us about the likely relationship between a childs name and hisher prospects for success in life. The winner says, it may be difficult but it is possible. In freakonomics by stephen dubner and steven levit there is an example of two brothers who were named loser and winner.