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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)

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  • Friday, 16 August, 2019
    Undercover EconomistTravel & leisure industry
    Reasons to take a holiday — especially a short one

    There’s something fractal about rest: we need it daily, weekly and yearly

  • Friday, 2 August, 2019
    Lunch with the FT
    Richard Thaler: ‘If you want people to do something, make it easy’

    The master of behavioural economics on the power of the nudge — and why Remain was destined to lose

  • Friday, 26 July, 2019
    Undercover EconomistOffice life
    Learn to love meetings by making them better

    Everyone should arrive with a brisk update and leave with a crisp to-do list

  • Friday, 19 July, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    We are all potential victims of the con artist

    Like magic tricks, scams exploit common human traits

  • Friday, 12 July, 2019
    Undercover EconomistUS healthcare reform
    US healthcare is literally killing people

    It is an exaggeration, but not a gross one, to blame the system entirely for mortality rates

  • Friday, 5 July, 2019
    Undercover EconomistEconomic statistics
    Being average is not the same as being perfect

    The idea of the mean has a strange power over the way we think

  • Friday, 28 June, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    How economics can raise its game

    The split between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ approaches limits its ability to answer key questions

  • Friday, 21 June, 2019
    Undercover EconomistBrexit
    How the Brexit debate was flushed down the drain

    We want plumbers to know how a lavatory works, but our standards for politicians seem far lower

  • 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

  • Promoted Content
  • 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 EconomistNegotiation skills
    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 EconomistScience
    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

  • 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 affects 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

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