Haven't I heard that before?

I just started reading "Freakonomics" and nothing has shattered my world so far. I've only just begun, but most of the anecdotes are familiar to me (or anyone who reads socially conscious or personal finance publications- an admittedly seldom comination).

Here are some examples:

-Real estate agents list their houses and sell them for more than you do- no shit, Sherlock. They're trying to make a buck off of you like every other "expert". They'll forgo $150 of commission to earn you $15,000 in favour of making a quick sale.

-Take a crack-dealin' gang's structure and put it up against most small to medium business' organizational charts and they will look pretty much the same. Ever see "The Wire"? Can you say "Stringer Bell"? Why wouldn't an economic system such as capitalism, which affects ALL commerce, reach out into the ghettos? "The Projects" should be bastions of socialist experimentation, but they aren't. People are busy trying to survive there in the easiest way possible, just like everywhere else. To run counter to the system is harder than running alongside it. The roads are already paved.

I'm waiting to see what comes next. I am underwhelmed so far by such a widely-hyped book. It's like the economics version of "the Da Vinci Code".