Conservatives hate Freakonomics, that book by economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner that takes on more than a few sticky issues that most people don’t normally consider to be within the purview of economics. (See also the Freakonomics blog).
Publisher’s Weekly notes:
There isn’t really a grand theory of everything here, except perhaps the suggestion that self-styled experts have a vested interest in promoting conventional wisdom even when it’s wrong. Instead, Dubner and Levitt deconstruct everything from the organizational structure of drug-dealing gangs to baby-naming patterns. While some chapters might seem frivolous, others touch on more serious issues, including a detailed look at Levitt’s controversial linkage between the legalization of abortion and a reduced crime rate two decades later. Underlying all these research subjects is a belief that complex phenomena can be understood if we find the right perspective. Levitt has a knack for making that principle relevant to our daily lives
See, conservatives like conventional wisdom because it supports things the way they are and counsels against change. And conservatives especially dislike Levitt’s theories in Freakonomics because one of them suggests crime rates are causally linked to abortion and that the drop in crime rates in the late 90s was caused by the legalization of abortion in 1973 (read the book to understand it).
That’s why conservative icon Bill Bennett was criticizing the book. Not only did Bennett misunderstand Levitt’s argument, but he tried to make a false and intentionally racist corollary: “I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could [...] you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.” Well, that made a sound.
In the list of those who understand how wrong Bennett was stands Harry Shearer, host of the radio program Le Show. His October 2 program (RealAudio stream, start at about 33 or 34 minutes in) of Le Show brought this to my attention and highlighted Bennett’s attempts to backpedal. 
Le Show, incidentally, is also available by podcast.
tags: abortion, bill bennett, conservative, conservatives, criticism, economist, economy, freakonomics, harry shearer, levitt, racisim, steven d levitt, steven d. levitt, steven levitt, theory, william bennett, william j bennett, william j. bennett
Posted October 18, 2005 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Books, Movies, Music, Politics & Controversy. Tags: abortion, bill bennett, conservative, conservatives, criticism, economist, economy, freakonomics, harry shearer, levitt, racisim, steven d levitt, steven levitt, theory, william bennett, william j bennett.
1 Comment(s)
Comments RSS
TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
User contributed tags for this post:
freakonomics names (182) - Freakonomics baby names (103) - freakonomics conservative (58) - freakonomics quotes (38) - freakonomics name list (35) - freakonomics 2 (32) - freakonomics (31) - freakonomics names list (29) - freakonomics racism (25) - freakonomics chapter summaries (25) - freakonomics chapter 3 (24) - against freakonomics (22) - Freakonomics Summary (18) - freak o nomics (18) - freakonomics name (18) - Freakonomics racist (17) - freakonomics chapter 4 (16) - freakonomics critics (16) - freakonomics abortion (15) - Freakonomics Criticism (14) - freakonomics chapter 6 (14) - Freakonomics chapter 1 (14) - freakonomics chapter 5 (14) - freakonomics naming (13) - bill bennett (12) - freak a nomics (12) - freakonomics baby names list (12) - freakonomics chapter 3 summary (12) - freakanomics names (11) - freakonomics chapter 1 summary (11) - freakonomics chapter 2 (10) - freakonomics abortion quote (10) - freakonomics baby name list (10) - quotes from freakonomics (10) - freakonomics baby name (9) - names freakonomics (9) - freakonomics outline (9) - freakonomics bennett (9) - freakonomics chapter summary (9) - freakonomics name lists (8) - critics of freakonomics (8) - Freakonomics chapters (7) - freakonomics controversy (7) - sexs baby (7) - freakonomics and names (7) - freakonomics notes (7) - baby sexs (7) - freakonomics movie (6) - freakonomics chapter 5 summary (6) - freakonomics chapter 4 summary (6) - Conservative Freakonomics (6) - freakonomics chapter 3 outline (6) - freakonomics conservatives (6) - freakonomics and conservatism (6) - freakonomics chapter 6 summary (6) - freakonomics summary chapter 4 (5) - Freakonomics chapter review (5) - freakonomics 3 and 4 summary (5) - freakonomics and racism (5) - baby names freakonomics (5) - freakonomics bill bennett (4) - Freakonomics abortion quotes (4) - freakonomics on names john (4) - william bennett freakonomics (4) - bennett freakonomics (4) - conservatives and freakonomics (4) - freakonomics chapters review (4) - freakonomics baby (4) - criticism of freakonomics (4) - http amazon com exec obidos ASIN 006073132X (4) - hate freakonomics (4) - Steven Levitt racist (4) - freakonomics baby names controversy (4) - chapter 5 of freakonomics (4) - economist (4) - Freakonomics abortion controversy (4) - hated freakonomics (4) - freakonomics book report (4) - freakonomics vs freakonomics (4) - sex baby (4) - chapter summary of freakonomics (3) - chapter 1 summary of freakonomics (3) - freakonomics deconstructed (3) - freakonomics conservative book review (3) - chapter 4 outline for Freakonomics (3) - names in freakonomics (3) - names and freakonomics (3) - freakonomics the name william (3) - freakonomics chapter 3 summaries (3) - chapter 3 of freakonomics (3) - freakonomics chapters summary (3) - freakanomics criticism (3) - names from freakonomics (3) - freakonomics list of names (3) - chapter 5 Freakonomics (3) - notes on Freakonomics (3) - quotes chapter 3 of freakonomics (3) - freakenomics names (3) - freakonomics chapter list (3) - freakenomics review (3) - quotes on freakonomics (2) - quotes from freakanomics (2) - Chapter 3 Freakonomics (2) - freakonomics summary of chapter 3 (2) - baby names,freakeconomics (2) - freakenomics baby names (2) - freakonomics and conservatives (2) - Outline of Freakonomics (2) - Freakonomics summary chapters (2) - psp-image-u0nmbb (2) - freakonomics drug (2) - freakonomics summary chapter 5 (2) - william j levitt racism (2) - Freakonomics and Baby Names (2) - freakonomics chapter 5 outline (2) - freakonomics notes and quotes (2) - memorable quotes from the book freakonomics (2) - chapter 4 freakonomics (2) - freak a nomic book (2) - summary of chapters in freakonomics (2) - freakonomics babies names (2) - freakonomics-names (2) - freak a nomics the book (2) - freakonomics future names (2) - chapter 2 summary of freakonomics (2) - freakonomics baby names of the future (2) - freakonomics chapter outline (2) - freakonomics summary ch 4 (2) - freakonomics conservative abortion (2) - Freakonomics summary of chapter 1 (2) - Freakonomics review chapter 5 (2) - freakonomics book review conservatives (2) - chapter outlines for Freakonomics (2) - quotes from the book freakonomics (2) - levitt racist freakonomics (2) - freakonomics chapter 3 review (2) - freakonomics libraries (2) - freakonomics and baby name list (2) - ch4 freakonomics summary (2) - ch4 freakonomics outline (2) - freakonomics chapter 2 summary (2) - freakonomics is racist (2) - freakonomics outlines (2) - controversial freakonomics (2) - freakonomics part 5 (2) - outline for chapter 4 in Freakonomics (2) - i hate freakonomics (2) - freakonomics outlines chapters (2) - memorable quotes freakonomics (2) - freakonomics summary of chapters (2) -
[...] “John B,” from Omaha, NE writes regarding my post about conservatives, Freakonomics, and Bill Bennett’s racism: [I]f you had actually listened when Bill Bennett made the comment you quote, you would see it was NOT intentionally racist. You’ve taken the quote completely out of context. I’m willing to bet that you know you’ve taken the quote out of context, but really don’t care. You’ll do anything to make anyone conservative or republican look bad. [...]