From FT MAGAZINE May 26, 2012

Congestion tax is the way to go

Illustration of vehicles on top of each other ©Raymond Biesinger

Subjecting an undertaxed activity to duties might provide a solution to a thorny problem

From COMMENT May 25, 2012

An education on social mobility by degrees

Is Nick Clegg trying to rig the education market, asks Tim Harford

illustration of a mug ©Raymond Biesinger From FT MAGAZINE May 19, 2012

A questionable move by Starbucks

Big organisations should test out their new policies whenever they can

From COMMENT May 18, 2012

The weighty problem of road and fat taxes

A levy on unhealthy food has happiness implications

Illustration of a POW camp ©Raymond Biesinger May 12, 2012

Rules of trading in a POW camp

An economist who was taken prisoner during the second world war observed that market institutions were universal and spontaneous

From UK May 11, 2012

Leaders do not need to milk price of pint

Financial returns of lacto-economics seem to be limited

From COMMENT May 11, 2012

That’s a lot of Wonga for a business loan!

APR is not be the way to gauge short-term credit costs, writes Tim Harford

Illustration of a cracked train car ©Raymond Biesinger From FT MAGAZINE May 5, 2012

Time to bring in the crash investigators

The NTSB is capable of providing a clear and authoritative narrative, explanations and conclusions about the crisis

From COMMENT May 4, 2012

Queues at Heathrow: a numbers game

Airport waiting time data doesn’t add up

illus of financial adviser ©Raymond Biesinger From FT MAGAZINE Apr 28, 2012

Valuable advice on investment advisers

Be careful whose interests the expert is serving...

From COMMENT Apr 27, 2012

Our growth fixation is positively baffling

Economic data is not a black/white, pass/fail affair, writes Tim Harford

From FT MAGAZINE Apr 21, 2012

The one-night stand gets a digital makeover

Collaborative consumption websites and microlabour services may lower transaction costs but they raise the issue of internet-based trust

From COMMENT Apr 20, 2012

A first-class reason to stockpile stamps

The secondary market is going to be limited, says Tim Harford

From FT MAGAZINE Apr 14, 2012

The difficult question of happiness

A new paper suggests that respondents to surveys on well-being are affected by the way they are asked

From COMMENT Apr 13, 2012

Enough whingeing about price gouging

The ‘just price’ idea has little economic basis, writes Tim Harford

From FT MAGAZINE Apr 7, 2012

Looking after granny shouldn’t be so taxing

Why the government should accept the Dilnot Commission’s proposals for the social care of the elderly

From COMMENT Apr 6, 2012

The ban on hosepipes does not hold water

Rationing reduces supply and misallocates resources, writes Tim Harford

From FT MAGAZINE Mar 30, 2012

Capital ways to survive the worst

The results of an experiment in Sri Lanka show the impact of financing on small businesses in communities shattered by natural disasters

From COMMENT Mar 30, 2012

VAT reform would keep our pasties hot

The tax rise has been blown out of all proportion, writes Tim Harford

From FT MAGAZINE Mar 23, 2012

Forensic finance under the microscope

The trend of economists functioning as detectives may ultimately be good for the profession

Tim Harford

Tim Harford Tim Harford is economics leader writer for the Financial Times and writes the “Undercover Economist” columns on Saturdays. He first joined the FT as Peter Martin Fellow in 2003 and after a spell at the World Bank in Washington DC he rejoined the FT’s leader writing team in 2006.

Tim’s book, The Undercover Economist, is a Business Week bestseller and a Sunday Times bestseller, and was number one on Amazon.co.uk. It has been translated into sixteen languages. He is now working on a sequel.

Tim is also the presenter of the BBC2 series, Trust Me, I’m an Economist. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.

E-mail Tim Harford

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