Levitt and I will be in London early next week to promote the U.K. paperback edition of Freakonomics.
Just in time for our trip, the Harvard economists Ed Glaeser and David Cutler ask (and answer) the very question that I’ve long wondered about: Why Do Europeans Smoke More Than Americans? “Almost one-half of the smoking difference,” they write, “appears to be the result of differences in beliefs about the health effects of smoking; Europeans are generally less likely to think that cigarette smoking is harmful.” This is an intriguing argument, to say the least.
Below you can see the Freakonomics posters that Penguin U.K. is running in the tube and elsewhere in London. I like ‘em. They were designed by one Gina Luck, who is plainly very talented, and whose name is nearly as extraordinary as that of Georgia Cool, one of our very favorite people at the William Morris Agency here in New York.
A paperback edition of Freakonomics is, alas, still a long way off in the U.S. But things move faster in the U.K. You may remember a spirited debate on this blog a few months ago about the U.K. paperback’s cover; some people thought it was brilliant and others thought it was absurd.
So far, the cover seems to be doing all right. As I write this, the paperback was No. 5 on Amazon.co.uk. It’s good to see that Tim Harford’s Undercover Economist, also just published, is also doing well there.
Penguin U.K. will be keeping us very busy next week with interviews and the like. Hopefully we’ll have time for at least a couple of cigarettes.
4 Comments
Is it available as a paperback in the U.S. yet? I still haven’t picked the book up yet, but have read several reviews.
Chris
— Speedmasterhttp://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/
It seems the anti-smoking hysteria in the U.S. I unrivaled globally. Another aspect that is prevalent is the Big Corporation vs. the powerless consumer. Some of the anti-smoking commercials actual want you to believe people have been hoodwinked into starting and continuing smoking (ironically funded by tobacco companies due to judgements/settlement).
Europeans believe they can manage their vices without resorting to widespread campaigns and anti-corporate backlash to make themselves feel whole and right.
— kkwanI know why Europeans and other non-americans smoke, wealth. Think about it. Do you think that the number of smokers in a community (percentage wise) will be affected by the economic status of that area, community, or neighborhood. I understand that smokers come in sizes and shapes as well as business casual leisure suits, but the difference is that here in The U.S we still believe in the dream (ie. 2 cars and 2.5 kids)which says “I can be anything I want” and that is what makes us nieve and succesful. Take it from me I used to consider myself a complete loss at this point I convinced myself and others that I liked to smoke. But that was a complete lie, I simply enjoyed filling the void. You see Europeans are born and live in a huge void, which is ironically devoid of oppurtunity, progress, and success. So why not smoke? The entire picture is not that bleak but consider this final point. The French are still bitter that the entire world is not speaking francais at which point english would have been ridiculed in the same yet opposite flowing vein as french speaking culture is now. I challenge any educated american to deny that this concept does not send chills down your spine, and would eventually drive us all to smoke.
— nohaimoAll the paperbaks in the UK have a very distinct cover to the preceding hardback. Right now, paperback versions of Freakonomics, Blink and The World is Flat –to mention a few– are out and they all have quite different covers.
I have been thinking (unsuccessfully) of some economic/business rationale to understand this. It may be that there is a shelf-space battle for the attention of the new customer. Price sensitive informed customers already bougth the harcover on sale a few months after the initial release. The paperback may want to attract a second wave of customers that has been up to now unaware of the book. It seems (my impression) that the novel paperback designs are less “traditional”, with bigger fonts and more impressing images.
— londenio