Freakonomics

If the thought of a book on economics is about as exciting as sorting your mails, then the bestselling book, Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, just might be the book for you.

Economics is supposed to be about price elasticities and interest rates and not drug dealers and their curious living prefernces. That is what makes it so useful to management graduates like me, seeking relief from insomnia.

With its well-paced and easy reading style, this book shows how the resulting correlation of data impacts our lives and makes us think differently about facts and figures. Many people- including some of his peers- do not recognize Levitt’s work as economics at all!

Levitt is happiest grappling with questions that have the potential to overturn the ''conventional wisdom.'' ''Where did all the criminals go?'' proved to be the perfect instance of such a question.
The sudden and precipitous crime drop in the 1990's took everyone by surprise. Plenty of plausible-sounding hypotheses were put forward to explain it. But when Levitt turned an economist's eye to the data, he found that most of the supposed causes – better law enforcement, a strong economy, the aging of the population, etc. -- had a negligible effect.
And then, Freakonomics arrives at a startling conclusion. The book submits that the highly publicized drop in America's violent crime rate since 1990 is due almost entirely to legalized abortion!!

 As Levitt sees it, economics is a science with excellent tools for gaining answers, but a serious shortage of interesting questions.

On the downside however, Freakonomics will give you plenty to talk about, without an in depth analysis of the issues presented.

Also, those of you desiring a smooth flowing book, with numerous concepts building to an ultimate conclusion, might be disappointed. Actually, the book presents six wholly different topics, with no unifying theme.

All in all we say Freakonomics definitely asks some good questions, and it inspires readers to do the same.

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The Tipping Point

Here's the scoop -  This book has built-in appeal: little changes can have big effects; when small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or "tipping point"" is reached, changing the world. Much like the butterfly effect. Much like an epidemic.

According to Gladwell there are three conditions necessary to create epidemics.
The first one is “The Law of the Few”, which states that there’s a 80/20 Principle. This principle says that 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the people.
The second rule is “The Stickiness Factor”. This factor points to information and the types of information that will stay with you, stick with you, like a kick-ass commercial that touched on something for you.
The third rule is “The Power of Context”, which is all about sensitivity to our surroundings and how it can influence us whether we accept it or not.

Gladwell also introduces us to the particular personality types who are natural pollinators of new ideas and trends, the people who create the phenomenon of word of mouth. These are Connectors, sociable personalities who bring people together; Mavens, who like to pass along knowledge; and Salesmen, adept at persuading the unenlightened. 

He analyzes fashion trends (why hush puppies became a rage in the 90s), the crime rate, smoking, children's television, for clues about making ideas infectious and visits religious communes to multinationals to understand how to start and sustain ‘epidemics.’

It is a fantastic read and should be read by everyone. It would give us all a better insight into human behavior and can be used in business, social and personal arenas.

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The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

According to the father-daughter team of Al and Laura Ries, a brand name is a name (a Proper Noun in fact) in the mind of the consumer that conveys a single proposition about a particular product or service. The power in a brand name lies in its ability to positively influence purchasing behavior. In an increasingly cluttered information society, a powerful brand image can act as a guidepost for the consumer in making a purchase decision. 

This book is the definitive text on branding. It provides you with pairing anecdotes about some of the best brands in the world, like Rolex, Volvo, Starbucks and Heineken. This book tackles one of the most challenging marketing problems today which is branding on the Web. By reading this book you will learn not only how to build a brand, but how to keep it alive.

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