"Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life--from...

In a follow-up to "Freakonomics, " the authors offer a new analysis of how the economy really works.

Social scientist Eisler shows that the great problems of our time--such as poverty, inequality, war, terrorism, and environmental degradation--are due largely to flawed economic systems that set the wrong priorities and misallocate resources. Conventional economic models fail to value and support the most essential human work--caring and caregiving--so basic human needs are increasingly neglected, despair and ecological destruction escalate, and the...