Steven Levitt and Stephan Dubner explore the world of drug dealers in chapter 3 of their book Freakanomics. They begin by painting the picture of a man, J.T., who was a leader of a crack selling gang in Chicago, the Black Disciples. J.T. is a black educated man who worked in a high paying job in the Chicago loop, until he saw the profits that could be made in the drug business. Levitt and Dubner offer the story of gang life in Chicago and how young black men see it as a positive choice because of the money they could make.
Gang life seems like a profitable business with the statistics presented by Levitt and Dubner. J.T. made $8,500 per month (102), which did not include off the charts business. J.T. could make over $100,00 per year which was considerably less than he made at his job in the loop. With the possibility of this salary it is easy to see why poor, black men would be drawn to a gang. The problem was that only the top 120 men, representing 2.2 percent of the total gang membership made this salary (103).
Levitt and Dubner change paces in the chapter once this fact is introduced. Up to this point, gang life did not look too terrible. But while J.T. was making a nice fat salary, other gang members were only earning $3.30 an hour (103). On top of that, selling drugs on the street did not come without risk. Not only did drug dealers have to worry about money, or getting arrested, but they also had to fear for their lives. Members of the gang had a 1 in 4 chance of being killed (104). After this statistic, gang life does not look so desirable. The authors change pace again after this statistic is introduced, discussing why the drug dealers live with their mothers and then talking a little about the history of crack.
Overall Levitt and Dubner clearly made their point that drug dealers still live with their mothers because gang life is glorified with a high salary, when in reality is dangerous and for the most part, pays below minimum wage. While this is a lovely point to make and as interesting as this chapter was to read, my question is SO WHAT? The authors have some potentially great information in their hands but do nothing with the statistics.
Freakanomics main message comes across as economics is not always boring. It compares many things that you would not normally compare but offers no solutions or places to turn. The authors even state in the introduction and the conclusion that there really is no central theme to the book. Young, poor, black men thinking that gang life will be profitable and a positive life decision is a problem on so many levels and all the authors have to say about it is, “well at least economics is cool!” I don’t have a solution either which frankly makes me sound like quite the hypocrite, but at least I’m not trying to sell my ideas for $15.99 at Barnes & Noble.
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Lauren vs. Econ 
The authors may have described the horrible life of the average drug dealer in order to try to discourage readers from choosing that life, but more likely they were trying to make the reader wonder why anyone would choose such a life. If the pay is terrible, the job dangerous, and chance of advancement low, of course only people with no other options would choose to deal drugs; however, other explanations are offered, because many gang members left minimum wage jobs to deal drugs for less profit. In fact, leaving a better job and going to a low paying job is common if there is any chance at an extremely prestigious and well paying job. Low-level gang members are similar to actors who are forced to take jobs as waiters or aspiring athletes who spend hours each day training instead of finding employment.