Freakonomics Chapter 1

After reading the first chapter in Freakonomics its by far the most interesting thing we've read so far. Some of the comparisons and analysis are so abstract that i believe its almost impossible for the readers attention to wander. The first chapter is all about incentives. How much does it take for someone to cheat? well according to this author everyone has there own price. the most interesting part to me was in the first section regarding the daycare. After applying a late fee for parents who failed to pick up there students, the amount of kids picked up late increased! At first i wasnt sure about the validity of this statement but after the explanation it became clear. By applying a fee, parents no longer felt the moral pain associated with pickign up yor child late. Instead, the fee told them "its okay to pick up your children late, as long as you pay the fee. Later the fee was taken away and the number of late parents increased even more. The daycare had now taken away most incentives for picking up your child at the correct time.

The later part of the chapter talks about sports and cheating, why wouldnt sumo wrestlers cheat if it benefited them? Well i dont believe they do cheat, but some of them just have less or more incentives to win which in turn would alter their will to succeed in a match. All in all i found this chapter to be very interessting. the way the authors presents issues and asks questions make you think twice about what you would do. For example, at the end of the chapter the author asks "could any man resist cheating if he new he wouldnt get caught". Not only is this hard to determine personally, but it makes me wonder who in the world would or would not cheat. Would famous leaders cheat to gain popularity?? Overall i really enjoyed this weeks reading.