Steven Levitt and Roland Fryer are quickly becoming my two favorite economists to read for pleasure, mostly due to their willingness to apply their considerable analytical talents to touchy social issues, a practice that invariably draws condemnation from the overly politically correct.

I first noticed Steven Levitt after reading a piece in the NY Times Magazine (which now requires a subscription to read) and Roland Fryer after reading “Understanding the Black-White Test Score Gap in the First Two Years of School.” on which he collaborated with Levitt. Both have posted a large number of papers on their faculty websites, (also available on everpresent NBER) and write well enough to make it well worth wading through the calculus and econospeak.