A couple of years ago, University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times Journalist Stephen J. Dunbar experienced a series of epiphanies, brainwaves that would change the way they and others think about the effect of trends in popular culture on the social and economic lives of Americans. The book they wrote, Freakonomics was published in 2005 and peaked at the #2 spot on the NYT non-fiction list. It was, and still is, an important work of theoretical sociology mixed with concrete economic thinking.
Levitt and Dunbar drew some some startling conclusions while taking a decidedly wonky look at modern socioeconomic factors such as; The economics of drug dealing (an impoverished career choice for most as it turns out), the role legalized abortion has played in reducing crime in US cities, and the socioeconomic patterns of naming children.
Around the same time, major US newspapers began to really feel their own economic pinch as classified advertising dollars began moving from print to digital mediums. This was about when the New York Times began it’s ill-fated subscription model for feature columnists and important articles, a policy they are likely to abandon in early September.
Mainstream publishers know they need to do more to attract and retain the attention of Internet savvy readers and are starting to take bigger chances on what they publish and with the audiences they are publishing to. Hence this month’s introduction of a new section at the New York Times Online titled: Freakonomics.
Today’s entry is particularly good for Internet marketers as Jim Cramer (host of Mad Money) sits in to answer questions from readers. A couple of questions address important online properties such as Yahoo! and Microsoft.
Getting a sense of Levitt and Dunbar’s unorthodox view of the impact of our habits on our economy is important for business planners and visionaries. On one hand we are told to constantly think outside the box but rarely offered extraordinary examples of outside the box thinking. This is one.
Have a question and need quick answers? 
