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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)

Add to myFT Digest

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  • 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

  • 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 EconomistEuropean Parliament elections
    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

  • Promoted Content
  • 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 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

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