Dallas Man Freaks Out Freakonomics Author With Lengthy E-Mail

Erik Hille of Dallas has really, totally and absolutely impressed Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner. Seems the Freakonomics fellas a couple of weeks ago referenced their chapter on crime — specifically, the factoid that “the average sixty-five-year-old person is about one-fiftieth as likely to be arrested as the average teenager.” To which Hille posted such a lengthy response that today it gets its own entry on the Freakonomics blog on The New York Times‘ site. Among Hille’s many responses to the above quote: “New younger criminals and recent criminal immigrants have taken over that segment of the economy.” –Robert Wilonsky