I read the book freakonomics recently. One chapter in the book, the one which describes relationship between crime rates and a particular case that hogged the limelight in the 1970's. The authors (there are two, Steven Hewitt and Steve Dubner-please pardon me if I have spelt their names wrong) have presented their case in such a way that I was quite shocked to read the chapter. The book tels us that the dip in crime rate towards the early 90s in USA can be attributed to the legal battle for abortion. The case popularly known as Joe vs Wade during the 70s got the abortion a legal stamp which until before the case was an illegal thing in the USA. Someone who has not read the book would be wonder about the connection between a legal case during the 70s and the crime rate in the 90s. Even I was in the same confused situation. But the authors present statistics that prove that once the abortion was legalized, the potential criminals were not being born at all. These potential criminals would have grown up and by the 90s they would have turned to about 20 years of age. The age at which the would have or could have committed a felony.
I do not know if the statistics are accurate. Id not know if the reasons presented could be valid. All I know is that if the reasons and facts presented are valid, the authors have done a damn good job of digging out all this, and the book was definitely worth reading.
I am not an expert on books but as a reader I am presenting my opinions here.
The only disappointing thing about this book was that towards the end, it lost it's initial charm. I would not go into the details of how and why the book turned from being a good book to an ordinary and rather a bit boring towards the end. Nevertheless, the book probably required a lot of research and a lot of hard work.
PS: It may not be a waste of time even if you are left a bit disappointed towards the end.
