A couple of things from reading Freakonomics recently:

Malcolm Gladwell discusses why he liked Freakonomics when they did not support his Tipping Point theory of why New York’s crime rate diminished. The same day, the authors of Freakonomics respond. Bet you wouldn’t see this happening without the Internet. (and Gladwell responds to their rebuttal soon after)

Slate examines why Gap’s sales are in the doldrums since the beginning of the 21st century. When first reading this type of analysis, I immediately thought of how this could be explained by using the Freakonomics approach, too bad that this topic isn’t controversial enough for them to take it on. (also on Slate, why Gap’s clothes now suck)