Steve Levitt
Steve Levitt is an award-winning economist, innovative thinker, TED-talk speaker and bestselling author. He is William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at The University of Chicago, as well as the Director of the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Levitt’s work has been influential in many social science disciplines, including political economy, sociology, political science, the economics of crime, and the study of law. He has been able to take economic theory beyond textbook pages and explore the ways economics interacts with psychology, sociology and behavioral science. Together with Stephen Dubner, they authored the bestselling book Freakonomics and its sequels Superfreakonomics and Think Like A Freak.
Steve Levitt Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics
Academic History
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Ph.D., Economics
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B.A., Summa Cum Laude, Economics
Levitt is one of the nation's leading micro-economists and has done pioneering and influential work on natural experiments in economics.
He is known for being one of the early popularizers of applied microeconomics and causal identity with natural experiments during the 1990s and 2000s.
He studies a wide range of topics including the economic aspects of crime, corruption and education.
His unorthodox approach of using the tools of economics to reveal hidden aspects of everyday decisions has triggered debate in the media and academic circles.
Levitt is best known as the co-author of the bestselling books, the Freakonomics series, the business management and leadership phenomenon that has sold more than 7 million copies in over 40 countries.
The books made numerous "books of the year" lists, a few "books of the decade" lists, and won a variety of awards.
Awards include the inaugural Quill Award, a BookSense Book of the Year Award, and a Visionary Award from the National Council on Economic Education.
RECOGNITIONS
2006 Time Magazine's 100 People Who Shape Our World
2003 John Bates Clark Medal