Freakonomics is a fine read, sort of mental candy, not a life changing read... They look at a lot of super complex systems -- and each time you look at them closely you come up with new insights, but are really not all that much closer to understanding the whole picture. Reminds me of cough, fisheries, cough...
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The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. -John Buchan