Accessibility help Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
Open drawer menu Open search bar
Financial Times
myFT
  • Home
  • World
    Sections
    • World Home
    • Global Economy
    • UK
    • US
    • China
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Emerging Markets
    • Europe
    • Americas
    • Middle East and North Africa
    Most Read
    • India raises US tariffs after losing preferential trade access
    • Boris Johnson ‘empty-chaired’ at Tory leadership TV debate
    • Beijing’s hand behind move to suspend Hong Kong bill
    • Germany to back EU-wide target for net zero emissions
    • Saudi Arabia urges action to protect energy supplies
  • US
    Sections
    • US Home
    • US Economy
    • US Politics & Policy
    • US Companies
    Most Read
    • India raises US tariffs after losing preferential trade access
    • Saudi Arabia urges action to protect energy supplies
    • US economy: the Fed tries to predict politics
    • Namal Nawana: Sending shockwaves through Smith & Nephew
    • Bond markets are unconvinced how effective central bank tools are
  • Companies
    Sections
    • Companies Home
    • Energy
    • Financials
    • Health
    • Industrials
    • Media
    • Professional Services
    • Retail & Consumer
    • Tech Sector
    • Telecoms
    • Transport
    Most Read
    • Protesters flood Hong Kong to demand leader’s resignation
    • Hong Kong suspends controversial extradition bill
    • Deutsche Bank to set up €50bn ‘bad bank’ as part of overhaul
    • Housebuilder blames Help To Buy for market weakness
    • Woodford’s Income Focus fund shrinks a third in June
  • Tech
  • Markets
    Sections
    • Markets Home
    • fastFT
    • Alphaville
    • Markets Data
    • Capital Markets
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
    • Equities
    • Fund Management
    • Trading
    Most Read
    • Woodford failings put spotlight on UK and EU regulators
    • Bond markets are unconvinced how effective central bank tools are
    • The new macroeconomics of populism
    • Are markets somehow ‘broken’?
    • How markets have reacted to the Gulf of Oman tanker attacks
  • Graphics
  • Opinion
    Sections
    • Opinion Home
    • Columnists
    • The FT View
    • The Big Read
    • Instant Insight
    • Lex
    • Alphaville
    • Obituaries
    • Letters
    Most Read
    • Boris Johnson, the great pretender finally on the cusp of power
    • Have you hit the age of irrelevance?
    • What rural romantics get wrong about the world
    • Hong Kong cannot respect freedoms while serving Beijing
    • Why Japan isn’t afraid of robots
  • Work & Careers
    Sections
    • Work & Careers Home
    • Business School Rankings
    • Business Education
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Recruitment
    • Business Books
    Most Read
    • Why law firms must change how they work
    • The beautiful game may be about to get ugly for women
    • If you cannot manage up, you cannot manage at all
    • A weekend rite of passage forges bonds between men
    • An anarchist’s guide to doing good business
  • Life & Arts
    Sections
    • Life & Arts Home
    • Arts
    • Books
    • Food & Drink
    • FT Magazine
    • House & Home
    • Next Act
    • Style
    • Travel
    Most Read
    • Armen Sarkissian: ‘The moment you stop learning, you die’
    • Have you hit the age of irrelevance?
    • A new era for the Astir Palace — grande dame of the Athens Riviera
    • What rural romantics get wrong about the world
    • Meet the Barbican’s original residents
  • How to Spend It
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
Menu Search
  • Home
  • World
  • US
  • Companies
  • Tech
  • Markets
  • Graphics
  • Opinion
  • Work & Careers
  • Life & Arts
  • How to Spend It
Financial Times
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe

Get a fresh start.

Get a fresh start.
Choose your FT trial

Tim Harford

Undercover Economist

Tim Harford writes the Undercover Economist column, and was previously an economics leader writer for the FT. He first joined the newspaper as Peter Martin Fellow in 2003.

Tim is the author of seven books, including the million-selling The Undercover Economist and most recently Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy. He is also a regular presenter for BBC radio.

He was made an OBE in the 2019 new year honours list “for services to improving economic understanding”.

Email Tim Harford @TimHarford (link opens in a new browser window)
Email Tim Harford @TimHarford (link opens in a new browser window)

Add to myFT Digest

Add this topic to your myFT Digest for news straight to your inbox

  • Friday, 14 June, 2019
    Undercover EconomistUS foreign policy
    How the US is weaponising the world economy

    Donald Trump likes to use commerce for coercion, but the tactic could backfire

  • Friday, 7 June, 2019
    Undercover EconomistSocial affairs
    Count your blessings — even when they come well disguised

    A little adversity can concentrate the mind and force creativity

  • Friday, 31 May, 2019
    Undercover EconomistAudio articles
    Compromise dies in the age of outrage

    Hardening political positions are the sclerosis that may lead to a heart attack for democracies

  • Friday, 24 May, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    It can be hard to distinguish luck from judgment

    Randomness often explains the difference between triumph and failure

  • Friday, 17 May, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    The obstacles that speed and slow our path

    Sometimes when we are forced to rethink we discover a better course of action

  • Friday, 10 May, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    Our first instinct is far too often wrong

    In exams, as in life, we should be willing to rethink

  • Friday, 3 May, 2019
    Undercover EconomistResearch and development
    Real change requires experts to collaborate

    Like scientific research, good policymaking now needs different perspectives

  • Friday, 26 April, 2019
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Always seek out novelty — even at home

    The search for new experiences should not just be for our holidays

  • Friday, 19 April, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    Thanos shows us how not to be an economist

    The ‘Avengers’ villain sorely needs to undergo some peer review

  • Promoted Content
  • Friday, 12 April, 2019
    Undercover EconomistClimate change
    A carbon tax is the nudge the world needs

    Such a levy would pull billions of levers in a complex economy, saturated in fossil fuels

  • Friday, 5 April, 2019
    Undercover EconomistUK business & economy
    Counting the economic costs and causes of Brexit

    Leavers and Remainers must face facts: the economy has long been disappointing

  • Friday, 29 March, 2019
    Undercover EconomistUS politics & policy
    Political change can feel elusive, until the dam bursts

    Dramatic shifts are possible, as the hostile takeovers of parties in the UK and US prove

  • Friday, 22 March, 2019
    Undercover EconomistAlan Krueger
    A ‘master-economist’ for our age bows out

    Economics was dominated by theory until pioneering research created a role for evidence

  • Friday, 15 March, 2019
    Undercover EconomistSilicon Valley
    Superstar companies lose their lustre

    The contribution of big groups to US productivity has fallen by 40 per cent since 2000

  • Friday, 8 March, 2019
    Undercover EconomistEconomic statistics
    Gender bias in data affect health and wealth

    There are gaps in the way we gather statistics that have far-reaching effects

  • Friday, 1 March, 2019
    Undercover EconomistMental health
    Happiness is easy to venerate but hard to generate

    Moaning about the deficiencies of measurement will not help us focus on what matters

  • Friday, 22 February, 2019
    Undercover EconomistArtificial intelligence
    Expect mischief as algorithms proliferate

    When computers start conspiring against us, regulators will have to be nimble

  • Friday, 15 February, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    Why living experimentally beats taking big bets

    Many of the decisions we make are reversible, only stubbornness makes them permanent

  • Friday, 8 February, 2019
    Undercover EconomistCentral banks
    In defence of low-level inflation

    It goes without saying that hyperinflation is a catastrophe but it is now uncommon

  • Friday, 1 February, 2019
    Undercover EconomistIncome tax
    The super-rich are an easy target for tax

    Attempts to raise revenue must include the comfortably off as well as the ultra-wealthy

  • Friday, 25 January, 2019
    Undercover EconomistScience
    ‘Blue Monday’ pseudoscience undermines trust

    We should ask questions before we spread an idea on social media or use it to govern our votes

  • Friday, 18 January, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBrexit
    Brexit lessons from the wreck of the Torrey Canyon

    Sometimes the idea of changing tack becomes literally unthinkable

  • Thursday, 17 January, 2019
    FT Magazine
    Tim Harford: how behavioural economics helped kick my phone addiction

    What economic theory can teach us about reining in our screen habits

  • Friday, 11 January, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBrexit
    Trump, May and the art of political brinkmanship

    Elected politicians are threatening harm to their own country as a bargaining tactic

  • Friday, 4 January, 2019
    Undercover EconomistFake news
    Why there is no need to panic about fake news

    The phrase has long since ceased to be useful but is deployed as a political cudgel

Previous You are on page 1 Next

Cookies on FT Sites

We use cookies for a number of reasons, such as keeping FT Sites reliable and secure, personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to analyse how our Sites are used.
Manage cookies
Accept & continue
Support
View Site Tips Help Centre About Us Accessibility myFT Tour Careers
Legal & Privacy
Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Copyright Slavery Statement & Policies
Services
FT Live Share News Tips Securely Individual Subscriptions Group Subscriptions Republishing Contracts & Tenders
Executive Job Search Advertise with the FT Follow the FT on Twitter FT Transact Secondary Schools
Tools
Portfolio Today's Newspaper (ePaper) Alerts Hub MBA Rankings
Enterprise Tools News feed Newsletters Currency Converter
More from the FT Group
Markets data delayed by at least 15 minutes. © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2019. FT and ‘Financial Times’ are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice.
Financial Times

International Edition

  • Switch to UK Edition
  • Top sections
  • Home
  • World
    • Global Economy
    • UK
    • US
    • China
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Emerging Markets
    • Europe
    • Americas
    • Middle East and North Africa
  • US
    • US Economy
    • US Politics & Policy
    • US Companies
  • Companies
    • Energy
    • Financials
    • Health
    • Industrials
    • Media
    • Professional Services
    • Retail & Consumer
    • Tech Sector
    • Telecoms
    • Transport
  • Tech
  • Markets
    • fastFT
    • Alphaville
    • Markets Data
    • Capital Markets
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
    • Equities
    • Fund Management
    • Trading
  • Graphics
  • Opinion
    • Columnists
    • The FT View
    • The Big Read
    • Instant Insight
    • Lex
    • Alphaville
    • Obituaries
    • Letters
  • Work & Careers
    • Business School Rankings
    • Business Education
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Recruitment
    • Business Books
  • Life & Arts
    • Arts
    • Books
    • Food & Drink
    • FT Magazine
    • House & Home
    • Next Act
    • Style
    • Travel
  • Personal Finance
    • Property & Mortgages
    • Investments
    • Pensions
    • Tax
    • Banking & Savings
    • Advice & Comment
  • Science
  • Special Reports
  • FT recommends
  • Lex
  • Alphaville
  • EM Squared
  • Lunch with the FT
  • FT Confidential Research
  • Newsletters
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • News feed
  • myFT
  • Portfolio
  • Today's Newspaper (ePaper)
  • Crossword
  • Our Apps
  • Help Centre
  • Subscribe
  • Sign In