Steven D. Levitt
American
Born 1967
Steven David Levitt is an American economist and co-author of the best-selling book Freakonomics and its sequels. Levitt is a professor emeritus at the University of Chicago. Levitt was the winner of the 2003 John Bates Clark Medal for his work in the field of crime. He was co-editor of the Journal of Political Economy published by the University of Chicago Press until December 2007. In 2009, Levitt co-founded TGG Group, a business and philanthropy consulting company. He was chosen as one of Time magazine's "100 People Who Shape Our World" in 2006. A 2011 survey of economics professors named Levitt their fourth favorite living economist under the age of 60, after Paul Krugman, Greg Mankiw and Daron Acemoglu.
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed 2 of Steven D. Levitt's books, including SuperFreakonomics and Freakonomics.
2
Books Reviewed
SuperFreakonomics
4.4/5
reader rating · 4,610 ratingsSuperFreakonomics is the second non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner, applying microeconomic thinking to subjects ranging from Chicago street prostitution to geoengineering fixes for climate change. It is a worthy companion to the blockbuster original Freakonomics, though one that critics found harder to surprise.
Reviewed Jul 21, 2026
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of
4.4/5
reader rating · 1,387 ratingsFreakonomics, the debut non-fiction collaboration between University of Chicago economist Steven D. Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner, published by William Morrow on April 12, 2005, applies economic theory to a deliberately provocative range of subjects — from sumo wrestling corruption and crack-cocaine earnings to the role of legalized abortion in reducing crime — and went on to sell over 4 million copies worldwide by late 2009, spawning a multi-media franchise that redefined popular economics writing.
Reviewed Mar 4, 2026
Ask LuvemBooks about Steven D. Levitt
Steven D. Levitt is an economist whose reviewed work applies economic reasoning to subjects most economics books avoid: in Freakonomics, that means sumo-wrestling corruption, crack-cocaine earnings, and the argued link between legalized abortion and lower crime. Across the 2 books we've reviewed, the pattern is consistent — Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner use data to test uncomfortable causal questions, then extend the approach in SuperFreakonomics to street prostitution, suicide bombing, and climate change, where the summary notes scientific pushback. Both titles carry 4.4/5 reader ratings from Amazon aggregates.
- Where should I start?
- Start with Freakonomics, because it is the debut collaboration and the clearest statement of the method: economic theory turned loose on sumo corruption, drug-dealing earnings, and the abortion-crime argument. It also sets up the style that SuperFreakonomics later pushes into even more contentious territory. Its reader rating is 4.4/5 from 1,387 Amazon ratings.
- What's their writing style?
- The Levitt-Dubner style is analytic but mischievous: take an incentive, find a dataset, and ask whether the accepted story survives scrutiny. Freakonomics frames that method through deliberately provocative subjects, while SuperFreakonomics keeps the same contrarian energy and, on climate change, attracts scientific pushback according to the summary. The tone is explanatory rather than academic, built to make causal arguments feel like puzzles.
- Books we've reviewed
- We've reviewed 2 Steven D. Levitt books, both co-written with Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics is the 2005 debut applying economics to sumo corruption, crack earnings, and abortion-crime claims; SuperFreakonomics extends the method to prostitution, suicide bombing, and climate change, with noted scientific criticism. Both show 4.4/5 reader ratings from Amazon aggregates.
- How do their books compare?
- Freakonomics is the foundational, more focused statement of the premise: hidden incentives explain behavior in places like sumo wrestling and drug markets. SuperFreakonomics is broader and more abrasive in subject choice, moving from street prostitution and suicide bombing to climate change, where the summary explicitly notes serious scientific pushback. If you want the cleaner introduction, choose Freakonomics; if you want the same method with higher controversy, choose SuperFreakonomics.
- What genre do they write?
- The author's listed genre is unknown, but both books we've reviewed are categorized as Business & Economics. More precisely, they are popular economics nonfiction: real-world oddities used to test incentives, markets, and cause-and-effect. That is different from biography, self-help, or academic economics.
- What should I read after Freakonomics?
- The natural next step among our reviewed books is SuperFreakonomics, because it is explicitly the follow-up and keeps the same Levitt-Dubner formula. Expect the scope to widen from the first book's sumo, crack, and crime questions into prostitution, suicide bombing, and climate change. Read it when you want more of the method and are comfortable with more disputed claims.
Who is Steven D. Levitt?
Where should I start?
What's their writing style?
Books we've reviewed
How do their books compare?
What genre do they write?
What should I read after Freakonomics?
Who is Steven D. Levitt?
Steven David Levitt is an American economist best known as co-author of the best-selling Freakonomics and its sequels. His public reputation rests on bringing University of Chicago-style economic analysis into mainstream nonfiction, especially through collaborations with journalist Stephen J. Dubner. On LuvemBooks, we have reviewed 2 of those books.
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Is Freakonomics economics or journalism?
What is Levitt known for beyond writing?
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Authors Like Steven D. Levitt
Stephen J. Dubner
Non-Fiction
Science & Nature
Business & Economics
Stephen J. Dubner co-authored Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics, bringing a journalist's lens to contrarian, data-versus-intuition case studies.
2 books reviewedD
Daniel Kahneman
Science & Nature
Business & Economics
Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow dismantles intuition through rigorous research, bringing deeper psychological grounding to the data-over-gut arguments found in Levitt's work.
1 book reviewed
Donella H. Meadows
Science & Nature
Business & Economics
Donella H. Meadows's Thinking in Systems offers a structural framework explaining the counterintuitive causes and surprising outcomes featured in Steven D. Levitt's work.
1 book reviewed
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Business & Economics
The Black Swan shares Levitt's contrarian energy, using data to challenge conventional expert predictions and expose failing models of the world.
1 book reviewed
Thomas Sowell
Business & Economics
Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics shares Levitt's incentive-first economic logic, grounding contrarian ideas with systematic analytical depth rather than pop-science case studies.
1 book reviewed
Michael Lewis
Non-Fiction
Michael Lewis shares a skepticism of received wisdom in The Big Short, using data-informed narrative reporting to reveal the hidden incentive structures behind the 2008 housing collapse.
1 book reviewed