Steven D. Levitt Is a Book Report

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For example, many people suffer from what psychologists call a "present-bias," where a person will choose an inferior option over a superior option because it brings more immediate gratification.

Presentation of concepts in an understandable fashion

The very aim of the book is to apply economic theory to real-life problems, problems which economists do not typically deal with. Levitt is successful in doing so without using a lot of economic jargon.

Antidotes or examples to illustrate points

Levitt uses a quite controversial example proposing a link between increased abortions and a resulting reduction in crime rates. He posited that increased abortion resulted in less unwanted children to unprepared mothers, who were often younger, poorer, and residents of poorer neighborhoods. Levitt suggests that such unwanted children were more likely to be criminals than the average child. Thus, the reduction in such children, through abortion, led to a decline in the general crime rate.

How did the book represent public administration and its policies.

This example illustrated the relationship between behavior (mother's abortion of unwanted children), incentives (the preservation of mother's scarce resources), and law (the legality of abortion). The assumption is that banning abortion would stifle a mother's ability to preserve resources, thereby increasing the production of probable criminals.

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This explanation of the data could have some influence on the development of abortion policy in the United States.

Other scholars, like Samuel Krislov, would add a useful dimension to the analysis of these cases. Krislov is a scholar of law and political science who has a more nuanced understanding of the functions of government. Krislov would analyze how certain policy instruments are actually applied in society in assessing their actual effect on human behavior. For example, if policymakers were considering a ban on abortion and wanted to see whether such a ban would increase crime rates, they would have to consider how the ban is enforced by the legal system. Would the legality of an abortion be determined by an administrative agency (Child Protection Services) or by courts? Courts in different jurisdictions often interpret the law differently, and some courts may develop a strict or lenient approach to the ban. Some mothers may decide to abort in hopes that their judge will understand their decision......

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