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Economist Stephen D. Levitt gave a lecture on his book Freakonomics at the Foellinger Auditorium on Tuesday, Febuary 12th, 2008. (Patrick Fahrner, Patrick Fahrner)

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Students packed into Foellinger Auditorium Tuesday night to listen to Steve Levitt, co-author of the international best-seller Freakonomics, explain his opinion on outside of the box economic theory.

Introduced by the Illini Union Board and Business Council as “the Indiana Jones of the economy,” Levitt is considered a leading rouge economist by many of his academic peers and proved why during his lecture.

Speaking predominantly to business students, Levitt began his lecture giving hope to students who struggle with math, telling them he scored a 2 on his AP calculus test, and took only the most introductory math class available at Harvard, where he was an undergrad.

“If you don’t have natural talent, the only way to succeed is to be different,” said Levitt.

For almost an hour, Levitt told one humorous anecdote after another, relaying stories about a wealthy gang leader and a prostitute who both graduated college, but choose a better paying crime life over corporate America. Yet Levitt received his biggest laugh when he voluntarily revealed his address, asking the audience to send in cash to change his opinion about non-existent human altruism.

“People care about two things,” said Levitt, “They care about money and how people perceive them morally.”

After his entertaining yet insightful lecture, Levitt opened the floor to answer a variety of questions: ranging from his opinion on the current economy; to whether he thought the penny was useless.

Upon finishing, Levitt not only received a hearty round of applause from an obviously satisfied audience, but stayed after to sign books and answer any other questions.