SuperFreakonomics
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance is a non-fiction book by economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner, published on October 20, 2009, by William Morrow.[1][2] It functions as a sequel to their 2005 bestseller Freakonomics, utilizing data-driven economic analysis to explore counterintuitive incentives underlying social behaviors and policy challenges.[3][4] The book examines diverse subjects through empirical lenses, including the market dynamics of street prostitution compared to department-store employment, mechanisms to reduce drunk-driving fatalities via targeted incentives rather than blanket prohibitions, and the rationality of suicide bombers under insurance schemes.[5] It culminates in a chapter advocating geoengineering techniques, such as stratospheric sulfur injection, as potentially more cost-effective interventions for global warming than stringent emission controls, based on externality pricing and technological feasibility assessments.[6] Achieving New York Times bestseller status akin to its predecessor—which sold over four million copies—SuperFreakonomics popularized "freakonomics" as a framework for questioning conventional wisdom with incentives and evidence.[3][7] The climate chapter, however, provoked backlash from climate scientists and advocates who argued it understated warming risks and oversimplified geoengineering benefits, though the authors defended their approach as prioritizing pragmatic, data-informed trade-offs over alarmist narratives.[8][6]Background and Publication
Authors and Intellectual Context
Steven D. Levitt is an American economist and the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, where he has focused on microeconomics since joining the faculty in 1997.[9] His research employs empirical methods and natural experiments to examine topics such as crime rates, corruption, and incentives in markets, often revealing counterintuitive patterns through data analysis rather than theoretical assumptions alone.[10] [11] Levitt directs the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory, which underscores rigorous, incentive-based modeling rooted in observable evidence.[9] Stephen J. Dubner, Levitt's co-author, is an American journalist, author, and broadcaster known for translating complex ideas into accessible narratives.[12] Prior to the Freakonomics collaboration, Dubner contributed to publications including The New York Times, where his storytelling emphasized human elements in economic and social phenomena.[13] He hosts Freakonomics Radio, extending the duo's explorations into podcast format.[14] The intellectual partnership between Levitt and Dubner originated with Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, published on April 12, 2005, which applied economic incentives to unconventional subjects like cheating and real estate, achieving sales exceeding four million copies worldwide.[15] [16] SuperFreakonomics extends this framework as a sequel, prioritizing data-driven scrutiny over conventional wisdom in line with the University of Chicago's empirical tradition, which favors testing incentives against real-world outcomes to discern causal mechanisms.[9] This approach contrasts with more ideologically driven analyses by insisting on verifiable evidence, often upending established views through quantitative rigor.[10]Publication Details and Initial Release
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance was published in the United States on October 20, 2009, by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.[3] The book served as a sequel to the authors' earlier work, Freakonomics, which had maintained a presence on the New York Times bestseller list for two years following its 2005 release. This timing positioned SuperFreakonomics to leverage the established readership and media momentum from the original title. The hardcover edition debuted on the New York Times bestseller list immediately upon release, reflecting high initial anticipation built on the franchise's prior success.[17] Promotional activities emphasized author engagements, including public appearances such as a book launch event hosted by Hooks Books on October 27, 2009, a C-SPAN After Words interview on October 26, 2009, and lectures at institutions like the Commonwealth Club on November 4, 2009, and DePauw University on November 30, 2009.[18][19][20] International editions were issued shortly following the U.S. debut, extending the book's availability to global markets and aligning with the international appeal demonstrated by Freakonomics.[21]Content and Structure
Overall Synopsis
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance serves as the sequel to the 2005 bestseller Freakonomics, co-authored by University of Chicago economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner. Published in 2009, the book comprises an introduction and five main chapters that apply economic analysis to diverse, seemingly disparate phenomena, employing real-world data and anecdotes to uncover counterintuitive patterns. Its purpose is to demonstrate how overlooked incentives drive human actions, often yielding outcomes that defy conventional expectations or simplistic moral judgments.[22][5] At its core, the book posits that individuals respond to incentives—financial, social, or reputational—in predictable ways, though these responses frequently produce unintended consequences that challenge prevailing narratives. Levitt and Dubner argue that understanding these dynamics reveals truths obscured by ideology or surface-level observations, such as how economic pressures shaped historical discrimination against women or influenced modern experiments on altruism. The structure avoids traditional academic exposition, instead weaving narratives around empirical evidence to illustrate the power of incentive-based reasoning in fields from vice economies to global challenges.[23][24] This approach frames economics not as abstract theory but as a tool for dissecting real behaviors, emphasizing that policies or social norms often fail because they ignore how people adapt to shifted incentives. By spanning topics like everyday transactions and existential threats, SuperFreakonomics aims to equip readers with a framework for questioning assumptions, supported by datasets from historical records to contemporary studies, without prescribing solutions but highlighting causal mechanisms.[25][26]Chapter Breakdown and Key Case Studies
Chapter 1: How Is a Street Prostitute Like a Department-Store Santa?This chapter analyzes the market dynamics of street prostitution in Chicago using transaction data gathered by sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh over several years. One case study features LaSheena, a typical prostitute who earned roughly four times more per hour than she could in alternative legal occupations, highlighting the high returns in this illicit sector. Historical records from early 1900s Chicago brothels show prostitutes generating annual incomes equivalent to over $76,000 in today's dollars, adjusted for inflation. Pricing reflected risk and service type, with oral sex commanding about 20% less than vaginal intercourse due to shifts in sexual norms and supply from casual encounters. Pimps extracted a standard 25% commission while enforcing price discrimination, charging higher rates to white customers compared to black ones. The authors present evidence that prostitutes maintained high levels of service honesty, rarely defrauding clients on promised acts, and draw parallels to department-store Santas in seasonal economic pressures, contrasting this reliability with opportunistic behaviors observed in politics.[27][28] Chapter 2: Drunk Driving Innovations
Focusing on alcohol-related risks, this chapter evaluates interventions like ignition interlock devices, which require breath tests to start vehicles and reduced recidivism rates among convicted drunk drivers by up to 67% in some studies. Empirical analysis reveals that walking while intoxicated proves eight times deadlier per mile traveled than driving drunk, based on U.S. traffic fatality data where pedestrians accounted for disproportionate alcohol-involved deaths despite lower mileage. Lowering legal blood alcohol concentration limits from 0.10% to 0.08% showed negligible impact on overall accident rates, as measured by post-implementation statistics from states adopting the change. The discussion underscores cost-benefit trade-offs, noting that interlocks cost about $1,000 initially plus $70 monthly but avert multiple crashes, with data indicating each prevented fatality saves society approximately $4 million in economic losses.[27][29] Chapter 3: Altruism and Organ Donation Incentives
This chapter probes barriers to altruism through experimental economics and organ markets. In the U.S., over 100,000 patients await kidney transplants, with about 5,000 dying annually due to shortages, as reported by federal health data. Contrasting systems, Iran's regulated donor compensation of roughly $1,200 per kidney eliminated its waitlist by incentivizing live donations without black-market dominance. Experiments on blood and plasma illustrate "crowding out": unpaid voluntary blood donations declined in regions introducing paid plasma collection, with participation dropping 20-30% due to perceived commodification. The authors cite field trials showing small incentives, like priority on waitlists, boosted donor registration rates by 60% in Israel, suggesting monetary or positional rewards could expand supply without undermining intrinsic motivations entirely.[27][30] Chapter 4: Terrorism Incentives
Examining terrorist operations, this chapter uses financial and behavioral data to reveal low costs: the 9/11 attacks cost al-Qaeda under $500,000, primarily for training and logistics, per declassified estimates. Suicide bombers typically rent rather than own housing to minimize traces and avoid life insurance policies, which could payout to families only upon confirmed death and signal intent. The authors propose requiring life insurance for aspiring bombers, arguing it would deter attacks by aligning family economic interests—payouts incentivize prevention of missions, as premiums and policies create scrutiny and alternatives to martyrdom. Post-9/11 data shows tightened financial tracking reduced suspicious transfers, with banks flagging anomalies that aided 20% more interdictions.[27] Chapter 5: Global Warming Solutions
The final chapter critiques mitigation costs and advocates geoengineering, estimating that injecting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere could offset warming for $250 million annually, mimicking the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption's temporary 0.5°C global cooling effect from volcanic aerosols. Carbon dioxide abatement alone falters due to its 100-year atmospheric persistence and trillion-dollar price tag for significant reductions, per integrated assessment models. Case studies highlight overlooked sources like termite methane emissions equaling human outputs in some estimates, and propose incentives like rewarding low-emission cattle feed to cut agricultural contributions by 20%. The analysis favors adaptive, low-cost interventions over emission caps, citing historical weather modification experiments with 10-15% rainfall increases via cloud seeding.[27]