Superfreaky idea pits pimps vs. real estate agents
Ex-pimp turned preacher gives his take on Freakonomics theory
The provocateurs who made economics cool with the best-selling book Freakonomics are back with a sequel, Super-Freakonomics, that is causing quite a stir in global warming circles for its flip handling of a serious subject.
But nobody reads this space for global warming news. Indeed, I'm more interested in causing a stir with another of the book's flip assertions: that a pimp's services are more valuable than a real estate agent.
The authors, University of Chicago "rogue economist" Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner, must think they've hit pay dirt by getting the global warmers mad at them, and they probably have. Just wait, though, until the real estate agents catch up to them.
In arriving at their conclusion that a pimp provides more value than a real estate agent, the authors analyzed two completely unrelated studies.
The first, using data compiled by former University of Chicago sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh, found that prostitutes working solo in Chicago's West Pullman and Roseland neighborhoods earn $325 a week while performing an average of 7.8 tricks, while prostitutes with a pimp working the same area earn $410 a week while doing only 6.2 tricks.
In addition, a prostitute who works with a pimp is "less likely to be beaten up by a customer or forced into giving freebies to gang members," the book states.
Even after paying a 25 percent commission, the authors conclude, prostitutes with a pimp "come out ahead on just about every front."
They contrast this with a study out of Madison, Wis., that concluded that houses sold by owners over the Internet fetched about the same price as those sold by real estate agents.
Why even compare pimps to real estate agents?
"A Realtor and a pimp perform the same primary service: marketing your product to potential customers," Levitt and Dubner explain.
Brushing off the fact that real estate agents actually do the sales work for the property owner, the authors conclude that "once you consider the value you get for each of these two agents, it seems clear that a pimp's services are considerably more valuable than a Realtor's."
If we momentarily set aside the gaping holes in their conclusion, we can probably agree that our own opinions of this pimp vs. real estate agent question rest largely on our own most recent experience buying and selling a home.
On the other hand, it's much less likely that you've ever dealt with a pimp. That's why I sought consultation Wednesday with Chicago's most famous former pimp turned preacher, Bishop Magic Don Juan.
The Bishop, who honed his craft on the West Side before turning to the Lord, moved 10 years ago to Hollywood, where he now practices his own unique form of ministry among the hip-hop stars -- Snoop Dogg being his most devoted disciple.
But the Bishop told me Chicago is still very much on his mind, and that he even told U.S. Congressman Danny K. Davis last week he'd love to find some role in his administration if Davis becomes the new Cook County Board president. I think I first ran across the Bishop when he ran for 29th Ward alderman to replace Davis in 1991 under his given name, Donald Campbell.
"I hate to sit in Hollywood and hear what is going on back in my hometown," the Bishop told me by telephone, although assuring me he'll be here in person Friday night for a Players Ball celebrating the birthday of a fellow he described as the No. 1 pimp in Chicago. The Bishop's own annual Players Ball is slated for Dec. 5, and he says I'm invited. The wife will love that.
The Bishop still hits the streets "suited and booted," as he calls it, in outfits that would have made Superfly blush. He says being counselor to the stars pays even better than pimping, and certainly better than the storefront church he later ran on Madison Street.
"God has provided," he says, assuring me there are still a Rolls and a Cadillac outside his Hollywood apartment -- one green, the other gold. ("Green for the money, gold for the honey," he explains.)
So what does the Bishop think about the superfreaky hypothesis advanced by the SuperFreakonomics guys: that a pimp provides more value than a real estate agent?
"That is a true statement," he said enthusiastically.
"Pimps are the best thing for the economy," he continued, not quite tracking with their concept. "Ask any retailer in the world. Don't nobody spend money like a pimp.
"With a pimp, you can open and close on every corner when you get ready. Real estate can't say that. And the girl works every day. What would you rather do -- get your percentage every quarter or every day?"
Somebody should take the Freakonomics guys to a Players Ball.