If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t get a degree in journalism. Instead, I’d get one in FREAKONOMICS.

One of last year’s bestselling books, “rogue economist” Steven D. Levitt and New York Times Magazine reporter Stephen J. Dubner discuss how economics can be used not to find the answers to boring issues of supply and demand, unemployment and interest rates, but burning questions like “Does naming your child Shaniqua limit her job prospects for the future?”

Refreshingly non-politicized and ultimately fascinating, Levitt and Dubner apply basic Economics 101 rules to explain how you can tell if a teacher fudges standardized test scores and if sumo wrestlers are throwing matches. The stories behind why crack dealers still live at home with their moms and how one man used Superman to help bring down the Ku Klux Klan are as compelling as any fiction. The book grabs you from the get-go, offering the real reason for our nation’s declining crime rate. Neither gun control nor the death penatly, Levitt’s solution is one I won’t spoil for you.

I’m sure pieces of FREAKONOMICS have proven and will prove controversial, but it’s hard to argue when the approach is so common-sense and not influenced by monetary incentives. Besides, who else is using economics to study the business of bagels in the office or alleged racism on the game show THE WEAKEST LINK? No one, making it easy to see why FREAKONOMICS is so darned popular. It’s also so darned fun. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.