WSU enlists cutting edge economist’s perspective in launching Strategic Action Plan

DETROIT -- Illuminating unconventional truths that underlie the riddles of everyday life – from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing, New York Times best selling author Steven Levitt will give Detroiters a crash course in “Freakonomics,” in an April 26th lecture at 9 a.m. in Wayne 

Steven Levitt

State University’s Community Arts Auditorium on central campus.

Levitt’s address marks the official implementation of Wayne State’s Strategic Action Plan and symbolizes the university’s commitment to the thoughtful analysis and evaluation of the challenges and opportunities facing the city, state and region. The Strategic Action Plan articulates the University’s vision for the next five years, providing a blueprint for enhancing scholarship, teaching, scientific inquiry and community enrichment.

“As the intellectual hub of Southeast Michigan, Wayne State is quickly earning a reputation as a place where important conversations are taking place,” said Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid. “Bringing groundbreaking authors and scholars to campus can change the way we perceive our world giving us new analytical tools to demystify the incongruities of modern life. It also supports Wayne State’s reputation as a marketplace of bold and challenging ideas.”

Described as the “it” book of 2005, “Freakonomics, A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything” was a runaway bestseller with “stand on your head” analyses of trends and situations. Levitt’s novel methods of “data mining” and his inquisitive approach have led to thought-provoking and fresh insights on a wide range of challenges and opportunities.

“This kind of breakthrough analysis and detailed inquiry is crucial as we put our strategic action plan into practice and continue to develop the human and intellectual capital to become the model urban, public research university of the 21st century,” said Reid.

The Wall Street Journal has said that “If Indiana Jones were an economist, he’d be Steven Levitt.” Stating that that conventional wisdom is usually flawed, Levitt’s methodology consists of asking the right questions, sifting through piles of data and devising ways to measure an effect that veteran economists have declared immeasurable. The results can be downright startling.

In some cases, unlikely cohorts share common motivational roots despite having divergent characteristics and ideologies. For example, Levitt finds linkages between school teachers and sumo wrestlers, and crack cocaine and nylon stockings.

He also answers puzzling questions, such as why drug dealers often live with their mothers, by employing commonly accepted economic principles for evaluation. Levitt topples commonly-held notions of good parenting finding through statistical analyses that children who are read to daily and have limited opportunities to watch TV are not more academically successful.

A full professor in the University of Chicago’s economics department, where he received tenure after only two years, Levitt is the recipient of the American Economic Association’s prestigious John Bates Clark Medal given to the country’s best economist under 40.

The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. RSVP online at www.wayne.edu/levittspeech. Parking, maps and event information will be available once you register.

For more information, call Wayne State University Special Events at (313) 577-0300.