Steven Levitt

Steven Levitt (born 1967) is an American economist. He attended Saint Paul Academy and Summit School, graduated from Harvard University in 1989, received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1994 and is currently (2005) the Alvin H. Baum Professor in Economics and the director of the Initiative on Chicago Price Theory at the University of Chicago.

Related Topics:
American - Economist - Saint Paul Academy and Summit School - Harvard University - Ph.D. - MIT - 2005 - Initiative on Chicago Price Theory - University of Chicago

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Levitt is known as a prolific author of research papers on various topics, not all closely connected to traditional economics. He is an empirical researcher whose interests span also politics, sociology and law. Some usual subjects for Levitt are crime, abortion and sports. For example, his An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang's Finances (2000) analyzes a hand-written "accounting" of a criminal gang, and draws conclusions about the income distribution between gang members. His most controversial paper is The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime (2001). In that paper, he demonstrates from statistics that the legalization of abortion in the US was followed approximately sixteen years later by a reduction in crime, then argues that unwanted children commit more crime than wanted children and that the legalization of abortion resulted in fewer unwanted children, and so the legalization of abortion caused a reduction in crime.

Related Topics:
Economics - Politics - Sociology - Law - Crime - Abortion - Sport - The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime

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He won the John Bates Clark Medal in 2003.

Related Topics:
John Bates Clark Medal - 2003

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In April 2005 his first book, Freakonomics (coauthored with Stephen Dubner), came out and is now a New York Times bestseller. They also have started a blog available at www.freakonomics.com where they discuss their book among other things.

Related Topics:
Freakonomics - Stephen Dubner - New York Times bestseller

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See also: Legalized abortion and crime effect

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