A FREAKY TAKE ON ECONOMICS: 'Freakonomics' author to speak at Wayne State on Thursday

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Can Freakonomics help the Big Three?

April 26, 2007

By JOHN GALLAGHER

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Steven Levitt, the University of Chicago economist known for his best-selling book "Freakonomics", said Thursday he's consulting with one of the major Detroit automakers to help in its turnaround.

In town to deliver a speech at Wayne State University, Levitt would not identify which of the Big Three he's working with. He said only that a "visionary leader" called him months ago to say he had enjoyed Levitt's book and wondered if the maverick economist could help his company.

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"They really gave me free rein," he said. "We spent a day, a bunch of U of C economists and some leaders from the firm, and we just talked about all the issues they were interested in, and they said whatever you can figure out, give it a try.

"So we're looking at issues related to health care, we're looking at productivity in plants, we've talked about marketing, web sites, I mean everything. We're just basically digging in and seeing if there's anything that we can say that can be of use, and anything that we can learn by looking at the data differently that will help them be a better company."

Levitt's book became a best-seller because of the author's insightful, often humorous, explanations on such topics as why drug dealers live with their mothers and how to prove that sumo wrestlers cheat.

He is particularly interested in the role that incentives play in decision-making. In a typically off-beat illustration, Levitt told his WSU audience how he potty-trained his 3-year-old daughter by giving her M&Ms whenever she did it right.

Contact JOHN GALLAGHER at gallagher@freepress.com.