Brent Rooney: Superfreakenomics Co-Author Should Leave Medical Matters Alone
by Brent Rooney (MSc) *
On Oct. 2009,
Superfreakonomics as a sequel to his best-selling book Freakonomics
(2005). Perhaps Levitt is correct about Global Cooling, in his 2009
book, but nothing Levitt writes about medical matters can be believed.
If a young Milton Friedman (PhD, Nobel Prize winner) had opined
that “strong increased consumer demand for IPODs or Ivory Soap leads
to DECREASED prices”, the loud guffaws would have shattered ears
and the business press would have lectured the good professor from the
same university as economics professor Steven D. Levitt (Univ. of Chicago).
In 2001 Steven D. Levitt & co-author John Donohue were not pulling an
April fool's joke when the pair declared:
abortion “improves infant outcomes by reducing the number of low
birthweight babies and neonatal mortality” (Quarterly Journal of
Economics)
Most LBW (Low Birth Weight) newborns are 'preemies' (born under
37 weeks' gestation). Instead of prior induced abortions cutting future
premature birth risk, the best and overwhelming evidence is that prior
induced abortions (IAs) RAISE future preterm birth risk. In October
2009 Dr. Prakesh Shah (Univ. of Toronto), using data from 37 prior abortion-
preemie studies, reported the following in the very prestigious BJOG
(British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology) [1]:
1. Women with one (1) prior IA raised their relative odds of a
preterm delivery by 36% [1]
2. Women with two (2) or more previous IAs nearly doubled
their odds of a premature birth (+93%) [1]
Steven Levitt was not finished with medical-economic follies, for
in 2005 the Univ. of Chicago professor had his Freakonomics book become
a huge best-seller. One of Levitt's theories therein was that legalization
of abortion led to a cut in the
Levitt did NOT explicitly claim that “Black Americans had a much
elevated crime rate and thus, the very high Black American abortion
rate led to a cut in the
it was low socio-economic (i.e. poor) people with the high crime rate &
their high abortion rate led to a crime rate decline. But with an abortion
rate 4.3 times that of Caucasians, poor Black Americans have a higher
rate of abortion rate than do poor Caucasian Americans. Prof. Levitt did
escape the charge of racism by not including the term 'Black American'
or 'African-American' in his argument.
Was Levitt correct about
rate? The three (3) biggest killers of young Americans (ages 18 through
35 are accidents [mostly car & truck]), homicides, and suicides. Prof.
Levitt will find zero support for his pet theory of abortion lowering the
crime rate in
the
prior abortions. In 1997 the top Scandinavian journal for reproductive
health journal reported that for women with an abortion that in the 12
months ‘after’ had 3 1/2 times the total death risk (from every possible
cause) compared to women who gave birth. [2] For the 3 leading causes
of death for young people the following results were published:
Deaths For Finnish Women
with Prior Abortions
in the 12 months 'after'
________________________________________________
Accidents 4.24 times the rate of women who gave birth
Suicide 6.46 times the rate of women who gave birth
Homicide 14 times the rate of women who gave birth
_____________________________________________________
Perhaps Univ. of Chicago professor [LOL] Levitt excludes homicides from
his crime analysis. Prof. Levitt never listed this 1997 study of Finnish
women. [2] To do so would have revealed Steven D. Levitt to be a clown
(the kindest word for this dunce 'scholar'). Certainly, other economics
professors must learn the 'Levitt lesson':
Before an economist makes any pronouncements about medical-
economics, he must research that 'foreign field' (medicine) VERY
carefully, or he/she will sink into a quick sand of ignorance.
1 Shah P. et al. Induced termination of pregnancy and low birthweight and
preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis BJOG 2009; 116(11):
1425-1442
URL: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122591273/abstract
2 Dr. Mika Gissler et al. Acta Obstetrica et Gyncelogica Scandinavica
1997, volume 73, pp. 651-657
* Brent Rooney is a Canadian researcher and can be reached via e-mail at: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.justiceforkids.webs.com/
**********
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Since there are only about 5 million people living in all of Finland, the results of the Finnish study may not be a useful comparison to a country as diverse and large as the US with nearly 300 million.
Posted by: Aubry Hemingway | November 28, 2009 at 07:41 PM