When to Rob a Bank

When to Rob a Bank ...And 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-Intended Rants

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the landmark book Freakonomics comes this curated collection from the most readable economics blog in the universe. It’s the perfect solution for the millions of readers who love all things Freakonomics. Surprising and erudite, eloquent and witty, When to Rob a Bank demonstrates the brilliance that has made the Freakonomics guys an international sensation, with more than 7 million books sold in 40 languages, and 150 million downloads of their Freakonomics Radio podcast. When Freakonomics was first published, the authors started a blog—and they’ve kept it up. The writing is more casual, more personal, even more outlandish than in their books. In When to Rob a Bank, they ask a host of typically off-center questions: Why don’t flight attendants get tipped? If you were a terrorist, how would you attack? And why does KFC always run out of fried chicken? Over the past decade, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have published more than 8,000 blog posts on Freakonomics.com. Many of them, they freely admit, were rubbish. But now they’ve gone through and picked the best of the best. You’ll discover what people lie about, and why; the best way to cut gun deaths; why it might be time for a sex tax; and, yes, when to rob a bank. (Short answer: never; the ROI is terrible.) You’ll also learn a great deal about Levitt and Dubner’s own quirks and passions, from gambling and golf to backgammon and the abolition of the penny.
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Reviews

Photo of Lord Aragorn
Lord Aragorn@lordaragorn
3 stars
Feb 19, 2023

Some interesting insights (like "Freakonomics") but a lot of content with zero insight. The entire section on poker (and other forms of gambling) was pointless. Not a book I'd recommend - better to read the popular blog entries directly on the blog.

Photo of Jeni Enjaian
Jeni Enjaian@jenienjaian
3 stars
Oct 30, 2021

I love Freakonomics and have listened to Freaconomics radio since it started. Obviously I wanted to read their books too. This one, however, I enjoyed but not nearly as much as the longer form podcasts, the ones where they actually trace out the story. This book combines blog posts where Levitt and Dubner (and a handful of other guest authors) entertain a behavioral economics ideas but never fully develop them. Hopefully the other books, the ones that are not compilation of blog posts, will have better results.

Photo of A. D. Knapp
A. D. Knapp@haselrig
5 stars
May 23, 2024
Photo of Kemie G
Kemie G@kemie
3 stars
Jan 2, 2024
Photo of Luca Masters
Luca Masters@lkbm
3 stars
Jul 3, 2023
Photo of Wilde
Wilde@wildeaboutoscar
5 stars
Jul 3, 2023
Photo of Elissa Bowe LeBeau
Elissa Bowe LeBeau@wastingtime1994
4 stars
Aug 23, 2022
Photo of John Elbing
John Elbing@palebluedot
4 stars
Aug 21, 2022
Photo of indira1977@
indira1977@@drkasi
4 stars
Aug 14, 2022
Photo of KADY BURNS
KADY BURNS@kburns
4 stars
Feb 8, 2022
Photo of Liam Byrne
Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
3 stars
Jan 17, 2022
Photo of Oana Pop
Oana Pop@dwana
4 stars
Oct 14, 2021
Photo of Benjamin Bassett
Benjamin Bassett@benwillie
4 stars
Sep 16, 2021
Photo of Evelyn Xue
Evelyn Xue@evelynxue
4 stars
Sep 14, 2021
Photo of Jared Bryson
Jared Bryson@sell
3 stars
Aug 13, 2021
Photo of Joseph Kuuire
Joseph Kuuire@jakuuire
4 stars
Aug 13, 2021

Highlights

Photo of Katheryn
Katheryn@callmegoddess618

One hidden consequence of high gas prices: they lead to more traffic fatalities as drivers opt for smaller, fuel-efficient cars—and, increasingly, motorcycles. A 2014 study in the journal Injury Prevention found that in California alone, a thirty-cent-per-gallon rise in gas prices led to an extra eight hundred motorbike-related deaths over a nine-year period.

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