STEVEN D. LEVITT | Quotable

Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner wrote the 2005 book "Freakonomics," which looks at various enigmas of everyday life and their hidden side, while featuring conclusions that often depart from conventional wisdom. A sampling:
On parallels between many businesses and drug gangs: "If you were to hold a McDonald's organizational chart and a Black Disciples [a Chicago gang] ... chart side by side, you could hardly tell the difference."
On the 1993 Brady Act designed to reduce gun crimes: "This solution may have seemed appealing to politicians, but to an economist, it doesn't make much sense. Why? Because regulation of a legal market is bound to fail when a healthy black market exists for the same product."
On gun buyback programs: "The guns that get turned in are generally heirlooms or junk. The payoff to the gun seller -- usually 50 or 100, but in one California buyback, three free hours of psychotherapy -- isn't an adequate incentive for anyone who actually plans to use his gun."
On tax cheats: On April 15, 1987, "Seven million American children suddenly disappeared. The worst kidnapping wave in history? Hardly. The Internal Revenue Service had just changed a rule" requiring taxpayers to provide Social Security numbers for dependent children instead of simply listing them.
Source: "Freakonomics"