Podcasts about The Undercover Economist

This is it. Today we present you a massive special episode full of wisdom, which answers your final pressing questions. Listeners wrote in from around the world — from Perth to Virginia to Prague — asking about music, cooking, careers, home, fashion and how to live a good life. Lilah invites her colleagues and friends on to explore them. And now, all there is left to say is a big, loud, wholehearted, vigorous thank you.-------Please keep in touch – Lilah loves hearing from you and will still be posting about culture, food, art and more on Instagram @lilahrap. Email her at lilahrap@ft.com.You can read Globetrotter at ft.com/globetrotter and follow along @ftglobetrotter on Instagram.-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Tim Harford's podcast is called Cautionary Tales, and his column is The Undercover Economist. He references Adam Gopnik and Oliver Burkeman, and if you want to lead a better life by spending less time on the internet, he recommends Cal Newport's book Digital Minimalism.– Here are the cookbooks Harriet Fitch Little and Lilah mentioned: Fuchsia Dunlop's The Food of Sichuan, Fadi Kattan's Bethlehem, Maria Bradford's Sweet Salone, and Pati Jinich's Treasures of the Mexican Table. Harriet is on Instagram at @hufffffle.– Isabel Berwick's Working It newsletter is here, and her book is called The Future-Proof Career.– Eric Platt, at the time of recording, was wearing a heather gray turtleneck and navy corduroys from Officine Générale and black Prada combat boots. If you're interested in corporate finance, he's on X and Bluesky @EricGPlatt.– Ludovic Hunter-Tilney mentions Gang Starr's 1994 song “Mostly tha Voice”, A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy's first album Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987), and Migos. One of his most listened to songs of 2024 was “Bande organisée”, by Marseille rap group 13'Organisé. Here's another episode we love with Ludo, on Taylor Swift (Apple, Spotify).– Enuma Okoro is an FT Weekend columnist. Here's her most recent column, on new ways to think about the new year.-------Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art listeners are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart-------Music credits: Jive Records, Chrysalis and EMI Records, Quality Control MusicRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This event was supported by Guinness Global Investors. For the final instalment of the Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series for 2024, Financial Times columnist Tim Harford joined us to interrogate what the numbers are really telling us about the economy – and what those numbers tell us about what lies ahead. As the FT's Undercover Economist, Harford demonstrates a remarkable ability to explain and communicate complex economic data in ways that are compelling and entertaining. This episode was recorded at The Tabernacle in London on Tuesday November 26, as Harford put our current economic challenges and opportunities into historical perspective and sought to map out the economic landscape we can expect in 2025.  This is the second instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This event was supported by Guinness Global Investors. For the final instalment of the Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series for 2024, Financial Times columnist Tim Harford joined us to interrogate what the numbers are really telling us about the economy – and what those numbers tell us about what lies ahead. As the FT's Undercover Economist, Harford demonstrates a remarkable ability to explain and communicate complex economic data in ways that are compelling and entertaining. This episode was recorded at The Tabernacle in London on Tuesday November 26, as Harford put our current economic challenges and opportunities into historical perspective and sought to map out the economic landscape we can expect in 2025.  This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Undercover Economist, Tim Harford joins Steph to answer your questions, including how a taxless society would operate, whether we can get ourselves out of economic mess by making different lifestyle choices and where butter mountains and wine lakes come from. Sign up to our newsletter to get more stories from the world of business and finance. Email: restismoney@gmail.com X: @TheRestIsMoney Instagram: @TheRestIsMoney TikTok: @RestIsMoney goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: India Dunkley Producer: Ross Buchanan Head of Content: Tom Whiter Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is happiness correlated with GDP? Are Gen Z richer than their parents? Could Modern Monetary Theory ever be implemented? Robert is joined by Tim Harford, the Undercover Economist, to answer all these questions and more. Sign up to our newsletter to get more stories from the world of business and finance. Email: restismoney@gmail.com X: @TheRestIsMoney Instagram: @TheRestIsMoney TikTok: @RestIsMoney goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Fiona Douglas Senior Producer: Dom Johnson Head of Content: Tom Whiter Exec Producers: Neil Fearn, Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chapter 1 What's The Undercover Economist Book by Tim HarfordThe Undercover Economist is a non-fiction book written by economist Tim Harford. It was first published in 2005 and has since become a popular book in the field of popular economics.In the book, Harford explores various economic principles and concepts by using everyday examples and real-world scenarios. He delves into topics such as supply and demand, globalization, market failures, incentives, and the role of government in the economy. Harford's aim is to make economics accessible and understandable to a general audience, without relying on complex jargon or technical language.Throughout the book, Harford adopts the persona of an undercover economist, investigating economic situations like a detective. He uncovers the hidden economic forces at play in various situations, ranging from coffee shops and supermarkets to auctions and the stock market. The book combines storytelling with economic analysis to provide readers with a fresh perspective on how the economy works and impacts their daily lives.The Undercover Economist has been praised for its engaging writing style and ability to present complex economic ideas in a clear and relatable manner. It has been widely read by both economics enthusiasts and those with little prior knowledge of the subject. The success of the book led to the publication of several sequels, including The Undercover Economist Strikes Back and The Undercover Economist's Guide to Financial Markets.Chapter 2 Is The Undercover Economist Book A Good BookThe Undercover Economist is generally considered a great book by both critics and readers. It provides an entertaining and accessible introduction to economics by using everyday examples to explain complex concepts. Tim Harford's writing style is engaging, and he manages to make economics interesting and relevant to readers who may not have a background in the subject. Many readers appreciate the book's ability to make economics fun and understandable, making it a highly recommended read for those interested in the subject.Chapter 3 The Undercover Economist Book by Tim Harford Summary"The Undercover Economist" by Tim Harford is a non-fiction book that explores the principles of economics through real-life examples and everyday scenarios. Harford takes the reader on a journey to understand how economics influences various aspects of our lives, from coffee prices to poverty reduction.The book is divided into ten chapters, each tackling a different economic concept or phenomenon. Harford introduces readers to the basic principles of supply and demand, explaining how they affect the prices of goods and services. He also discusses the role of market competition and its effects on consumer choice.Harford delves into the concept of price discrimination, explaining how businesses use methods such as tiered pricing to maximize profits. He examines the impact of subsidies and taxes on market outcomes and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of government intervention in the economy.In later chapters, Harford explores how networks and connections influence economic outcomes. He discusses the role of social networks in job searches and explores the concept of the "death spiral" in the music industry, where piracy and illegal downloads threaten the survival of artists and creators.Throughout the book, Harford emphasizes the importance of thinking like an economist and applying economic reasoning to solve real-world problems. He encourages readers to analyze trade-offs, consider the unintended consequences of policies, and challenge common assumptions about economic behavior."The Undercover Economist" is written in an engaging and...

Tim Harford is a busy guy. He's got two podcasts, has written 10 books, and has a standing column in the FT called the Undercover Economist. But recently he's been trying to do less – and not just less bad stuff. He's cutting down on things that are productive, like kickboxing practice and reading New Yorker articles. The idea came to Tim after reading a book called Subtraction by Leidy Klotz, in which Klotz looks at research that shows that humans have a bias against subtraction. Instead, our idea of fixing things often involves adding. Tim tells Lilah how his subtraction experiment is going and why giving up on one activity can help you enjoy the activities that you choose to stick with.-------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com.-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Tim recently wrote about the art of subtraction here: https://on.ft.com/3U5A3BK– He is on X @TimHarford– You can check out recent episodes of Tim's “More or Less” podcast from the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd/episodes/player-------Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart-------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clips courtesy of Paramount Pictures.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Disturbing the remains of the Egyptian Pharaohs is known to incur a deadly curse, so why did a team of archeologists still risk inciting the wrath of King Tutankhamun by entering his burial chamber? And how many of them met a premature end for their impudence? This episode comes to us from our friends at Pushkin Industries. It's a podcast we love called Cautionary Tales by Tim Harford. We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these cautionary tales are for the education of the grown-ups — and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of Messy and The Undercover Economist) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you and scare you, but also make you wiser. You can find Cautionary Tales on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Further reading and listening related to this episode: Roger Luckhurst's book, The Mummy's Curse , is the perfect guide to every angle of the tale. Nigel Blundell's The World's Greatest Mistakes gives a vivid tabloid-style version, and Snopes described and then fact-checked the tale of the Unlucky Mummy. Skeptoid covers and debunks various explanations for the curse. The Mesmeromania incident is covered in detail by Christopher Turner for Cabinet Magazine. Shankar Vedantam and Bill Mesler set it in wider context in their fascinating book Useful Delusions. Charle's Duhigg's story about Target and the pregnant teenager is in the New York Times Magazine. Academic studies on placebos, nocebos, and the BMJ article about the mummy's curse: Howick, J. Unethical informed consent caused by overlooking poorly measured nocebo effects. Journal of Medical Ethics. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:07126ead-92c8-4b82-87b2-7e677aaf98b5 Colloca L, Miller FG. The nocebo effect and its relevance for clinical practice. Psychosom Med. 2011;73(7):598-603. doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e3182294a50 Nelson MR. The mummy's curse: historical cohort study. BMJ. 2002 Dec 21;325(7378):1482-4. doi: 10.1136/bmj.325.7378.1482. PMID: 12493675; PMCID: PMC139048. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the UK economy headed for its longest ever recession? Tim Harford, BBC presenter and “Undercover Economist”, unscrambles the latest figures, explains what happens when the economy starts to shrink, and chats to Adam about his uni lessons with former PM Liz Truss. Also, as Just Stop Oil suspend their protests that have parked traffic on the M25, we ask what makes an effective protest with Helen Pankhurst, great-granddaughter of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, and Georgia Catt, whose latest podcast explores the world of radical environmentalists. Today's Newscast was made by Danny Wittenberg with Miranda Slade, Paige Neal-Holder and Madeleine Drury. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The series producer is Tim Walklate.

Hello and welcome to the Future Work/Life podcast on which we discuss big ideas about the future of work and life.Today's episode is one of those that make doing this so worthwhile. My guest is one of my favourite authors, someone whose books and columns I've read for over 15 years and whose ideas have changed the way I think about the world.Tim Harford is a journalist, author of multiple bestselling books, a TV host and the presenter of the chart-topping podcast, Cautionary Tales. You probably know him best as The Undercover Economist (after the title of his first book and longrunning Financial Times column).We had a wonderful chat about all sorts of subjects, including curiosity, the importance of failing and how to use it to plan future projects and the future of the workplace. One last thing - I have launched my cohort-based Maven course, Accelerate your Career by Designing a Work/Life Flywheel. If you're up for interactive sessions with me, expert guests and other students with the same ambitious career goals as you, sign up or contact me for more info.LINKS:Tim's websiteTim's Twitter profileCautionary Tales podcastSinclair C5 carFuture Work/Life newsletterFuture Work/Life websiteSign up for me new Maven course: Accelerate your Career by Designing a Work/Life FlywheelMy book, Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, will be published on 17th January 2023. You can pre-order your copy, HERE. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jennifer Castle is an Economics Fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford University and a research fellow at Climate Econometrics, Oxford University.Jennifer talks about economic forecasting models and the role of structural breaks (e.g., Covid pandemic) in forecasting. We also discuss climate change and how it can be forecasted using econometric tools and scenario analysis.Jennifer recommends two books Fortune Tellers by Walter Friedman and The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford, and one paper-book chapter, 'Towards a Theory of Economic Forecasting', In Hargreaves, C. (Ed.) (1994), Non-stationary Time-series Analysis and Cointegration, with M.P. Clements.

This week, we bring our classic Life of a Song series to your ears, with the dramatic story behind 'Bam Bam', Sister Nancy's reggae dancehall classic. Despite being one of the most sampled reggae tracks of all time, it didn't make Sister Nancy a penny for more than 30 years, Alice Kemp-Habib tells us. Then, undercover economist Tim Harford teaches us how to think about failure. What can we learn from an early 2000s Broadway flop that went on to win a Tony award?--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We're on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------Links and mentions from the episode: –Life of a Song, ‘Bam Bam – said to be the most sampled reggae track of all time': https://ig.ft.com/life-of-a-song/bam-bam.html –To learn more about reggae and dancehall music, Alice recommends Inna de Yard: Soul of Jamaica (2019) directed by Peter Webber. Here's the Spotify playlist –Tim's podcast is called Cautionary Tales. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or at https://www.pushkin.fm/show/cautionary-tales/ –Tim's latest Undercover Economist column for FT Magazine, ‘The lesson humble sea urchins offer about resilience': https://on.ft.com/3Ectq6S –Volumes 1 and 2 of The Life of A Song: The fascinating stories behind 50 of the world's best loved songs are available in bookshops. A paperback of both volumes together will be out in August.–Alice is on Twitter at ​​@Alice_Khabib. Tim is on Twitter at @TimHarford.–Key coverage of the war in Ukraine is free to read at https://www.ft.com/freetoread—-------------Special offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast.--------------The first US FT Weekend Festival is on Saturday, May 7 in Washington, DC! To attend virtually or in person, buy tickets at http://ft.weekendfestival.com – use the discount code FTFriends2022 for 50% off.--------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner.Clips from:”Bam Bam," courtesy Observer Music”Le'ts Go to Zion," courtesy Studio One Records”Zungguzungguguzungguzeng," courtesy Greensleeves Records“Revolution," courtesy VP Records“Tear Off Mi Garment," courtesy UMG Recordings“Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” courtesy BMG Music Entertainment See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we bring our classic Life of a Song series to your ears, with the dramatic story behind 'Bam Bam', Sister Nancy's reggae dancehall classic. Despite being one of the most sampled reggae tracks of all time, it didn't make Sister Nancy a penny for more than 30 years, Alice Kemp-Habib tells us. Then, undercover economist Tim Harford teaches us how to think about failure. What can we learn from an early 2000s Broadway flop that went on to win a Tony award?--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We're on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------Links and mentions from the episode: –Life of a Song, ‘Bam Bam – said to be the most sampled reggae track of all time': https://ig.ft.com/life-of-a-song/bam-bam.html –To learn more about reggae and dancehall music, Alice recommends Inna de Yard: Soul of Jamaica (2019) directed by Peter Webber. Here's the Spotify playlist –Tim's podcast is called Cautionary Tales. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or at https://www.pushkin.fm/show/cautionary-tales/ –Tim's latest Undercover Economist column for FT Magazine, ‘The lesson humble sea urchins offer about resilience': https://on.ft.com/3Ectq6S –Volumes 1 and 2 of The Life of A Song: The fascinating stories behind 50 of the world's best loved songs are available in bookshops. A paperback of both volumes together will be out in August.–Alice is on Twitter at ​​@Alice_Khabib. Tim is on Twitter at @TimHarford.–Key coverage of the war in Ukraine is free to read at https://www.ft.com/freetoread—-------------Special offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast.--------------The first US FT Weekend Festival is on Saturday, May 7 in Washington, DC! To attend virtually or in person, buy tickets at http://ft.weekendfestival.com – use the discount code FTFriends2022 for 50% off.--------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner.Clips from:”Bam Bam," courtesy Observer Music”Le'ts Go to Zion," courtesy Studio One Records”Zungguzungguguzungguzeng," courtesy Greensleeves Records“Revolution," courtesy VP Records“Tear Off Mi Garment," courtesy UMG Recordings“Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” courtesy BMG Music Entertainment See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Over the last few weeks, we've been hearing of the battle faced by employers to try to coax staff back into offices. Our next guest, "the Undercover Economist" at the Financial Times, Tim Harford, is a big believer that employers could learn from previous bad office design to entice people back. He join us now.

Economist Tim Harford discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Tim Harford is an economist, journalist and broadcaster. He is author of How To Make the World Add Up, The Data Detective, Messy, and the million-selling The Undercover Economist. Tim is a senior columnist at the Financial Times, and the presenter of BBC Radio's More or Less, How To Vaccinate The World, and Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy, as well as the podcast Cautionary Tales. Tim has spoken at TED, PopTech and the Sydney Opera House. He is an associate member of Nuffield College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Tim was made an OBE for services to improving economic understanding in the New Year honours of 2019. Bill Phillips https://timharford.com/books/undercovereconomist-strikes-back/ In A Silent Way https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/in-a-silent-way-181826/ Fermi problems https://www.innovativeteachingideas.com/blog/an-excellent-collection-of-fermi-problems-for-your-class Dragon Warriors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Warriors The versatility of paper https://timharford.com/books/50things/ Lyonnesse by Jack Vance http://king-conan-review.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-complete-lyonesse-by-jack-vance.html This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

Rationality matters. Steven Pinker discusses a user's guide to rationality during an epidemic of unreason. Join 5x15 for an enlightening discussion between renowned experimental cognitive scientist Steven Pinker and behavioural economist, broadcaster and writer Tim Harford. In the twenty-first century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that discovered vaccines for Covid-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, quack cures and conspiracy theorizing? In his new book, Rationality, Steven Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are simply an irrational species - cavemen out of time fatally cursed with biases, fallacies and illusions. After all, we discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives and set the benchmarks for rationality itself. Instead, he explains, we think in ways that suit the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning we have built up over millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, causal inference, and decision-making under uncertainty. Rationality leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress. Brimming with insight and humour, this is a conversation that will enlighten, inspire and empower. Steven Pinker is an experimental cognitive scientist. Currently Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, he has also taught at Stanford and MIT. He has won many prizes for his research, teaching, and his eleven books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and Enlightenment Now. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Humanist of the Year, a recipient of nine honorary doctorates, one of Foreign Policy's 'World's Top 100 Public Intellectuals' and Time's '100 Most Influential People in the World Today'. Tim Harford is a behavioural economist, BBC radio and TV presenter and award-winning Financial Times columnist. He offers a distinctive blend of storytelling, humour and intelligence. The presenter of the BBC's More or Less and Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy, FT columnist, Oxford Fellow and million-selling business author is a compelling storyteller on economics, management, psychology and the unexpected bits in between. Books include The Undercover Economist and How to Make the World Add Up: Ten Rules for Thinking Differently About Numbers. With thanks for your support for 5x15 online.

Guest: Tim Harford  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thám tử kinh tế giải thích vì sao mà kinh tế định nghĩa cuộc sống của chúng ta. Từ giá của một ly cappuccino cho đến lượng sương khói trong không khí, tất cả đều có mối quan hệ mật thiết với kinh tế. Cuốn sách này sẽ cho chúng ta thấy cách mà các nhà kinh tế hiểu được thế giới này và giúp chúng ta đạt được những lợi ích lớn hơn từ việc hiểu rõ các hệ thống kinh tế.

Data and statistics are regularly trotted out by people trying to persuade reluctant audiences. However, sometimes, this data can be misleading depending on the context of its use. On the other hand, we frequently misinterpret data and statistics depending on our past beliefs on a topic. Tim Hartford, known as the "Undercover Economist," is a Financial Times columnist, BBC broadcaster, and the author of nine books (most recently “How To Make The World Add Up” / “The Data Detective”) and the host of the  podcast “Cautionary Tales.” Today, he discusses how to read statics and data with a critical eye. He explains how to examine the numbers and the intent behind them in order to observe a full picture of the world. Our Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4MoonYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk

Tim Harford, the well known "Undercover Economist" columnist for the Financial Times was awarded an OBE in 2019 for his contribution to our economic understanding. I could not be more thrilled that he'll be joining me live and virtually to discuss, among other things, his new book. The US edition is called "The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics" and it's now available for pre-order. We'll talk about this book, his others, and whatever else he'd like to cover. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thoughtsparksritamcgrath/message

Tim Harford introduces us to the messy world around us with an insightful new perspective. Tim explains that gifts of character like creativity, responsiveness and resilience are not found without the disorder, confusion, and disarray to produce them. Discover the wonder of mess and the unexpected connection it has with creativity.Tim Harford, “the Undercover Economist”, is a Financial Times columnist, BBC broadcaster, and the author of nine books and host of the podcast “Cautionary Tales” | https://timharford.comListener TribeWe have our own private social network for listeners of the Unmistakable Creative podcast. You can meet other listeners, discuss episodes, and engage with the creative community! Just visit https://the-unmistakable-creative-podcast.mn.co/ to sign up. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This book is different from the other more rigid and complicated books on the economics of the past. It teaches us to think about economic phenomena in our daily life through exploration. This book points out that everyday events are intricate games of negotiations, contests of stamina, and battles of wit. The Undercover Economist is a hard-to-find classic and fascinating work. After listening to this bookey, you will become a more savvy consumer, able to see the truth behind these different kinds of phenomena.

It’s easy to create a budget to manage your spending - but can you stick to it? 32-year old project manager Rosie contacted Money Clinic as she kept making the same mistakes. Despite starting the month with good intentions, online shopping sprees frequently pushed her into the red. Battling with ‘buyer’s remorse’ as she returned her impulse purchases, Rosie asked Claer what psychological factors could be causing her to break the budget? Tim Harford, FT columnist and author, turns to behavioural economics to show how we can train our brains to resist the urge to splurge. Financial coach and blogger Ellie Austin-Williams, known online as This Girl Talks Money, encourages Rosie to explore her ‘money mindset’ and probe her emotional connections with money. If you would like to be a guest on Money Clinic and chat to Claer about a money issue that’s bugging you, get in touch — our email is money@ft.com. Follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @ClaerB.Further reading:Tim Harford writes the ‘Undercover Economist’ column in the Financial Times. His bestselling book How to Make the World Add Up is out now in paperback. Follow him on Twitter @TimHarfordRead Ellie Austin-Williams’s blog on exploring your ‘money mindset’ on her website This Girl Talks Money and follow her on Instagram @ThisGirlTalksMoneyIf like Rosie, you need some help working through maternity pay and pensions issues, check out our previous episodes Will having a baby break my finances? and Should I combine my pension pots?And if you’re after budgeting tips, check out Claer’s recent column: Lock down your budget before the economy opens up See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, I speak to Tim Harford, “the Undercover Economist”, Financial Times columnist, BBC broadcaster, the author of nine books and the presenter of BBC Radio’s “More or Less” and “How To Vaccinate The World”. Growing up in what Tim describes as 'a very British way’, the topic of money was one rarely discussed in the Harford household. The cost of living was a lesson learned during Tim’s teenage years and early adulthood that was not void of a few trip-ups along the way. Tim’s personal stories of progress, years of research and recognition as an expert in his field offer a unique and insightful perspective to our ongoing discussion about the journey to mastering our money, worrying less, and living more. You can check out Tim’s latest book, How To Make The World Add Up, by clicking here.

Everyone has a podcast nowadays. Whether it's about sports, politics or features some of the most fascinating discussions on the current state of statistical communication in the world. No matter the topic, it seems like someone, somewhere is talking into a microphone about it. Getting someone to act on your podcast however - that's a lot more rare. Today we're here to discuss podcasting with our guest Tim Harford. Harford is an economist, journalist and broadcaster. He is author of "How To Make the World Add Up", "Messy", and the million-selling "The Undercover Economist". Tim is a senior columnist at the Financial Times, and the presenter of Radio 4's "More or Less", the iTunes-topping series "Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy", and the new podcast "Cautionary Tales". Tim has spoken at TED, PopTech and the Sydney Opera House. He is an associate member of Nuffield College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Tim was made an OBE for services to improving economic understanding in the New Year honors of 2019. His newest book “The Data Detective” was released in the U.S. and Canada earlier this month. Check out the episode here. - https://timharford.com/2021/03/cautionary-tales-florence-nightingale-and-her-geeks-declare-war-on-death/

In this episode of "Keen On", Andrew is joined by Tim Harford, the author of "The Data Detective", to discuss the evolution of record keeping and statistics, as well as to consider whether or not data should ever be taken at face value. Tim Harford is a senior columnist for the Financial Times. His long-running column, “The Undercover Economist”, reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences, while he also writes op-eds, interviews and long feature articles for the FT. He is an evangelist for the power of economics, wisely used, and has spoken at TED, PopTech and Sydney Opera House. Tim’s first book, “The Undercover Economist” has sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide in 30 languages. He is also the author of “The Logic of Life“, “Dear Undercover Economist“, “Adapt“, “The Undercover Economist Strikes Back“, “Messy“, “The Next Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy” and “How To Make The World Add Up / The Data Detective“. As a broadcaster, Tim has presented television and radio series for the BBC, including “More or Less”, “Pop Up Ideas“, “Trust Me, I’m an Economist” and “50 Things That Made the Modern Economy“. The Times of London recently rated both “More or Less” and “50 Things” among the world’s best 10 podcasts. His new podcast, produced by Pushkin Industries (Malcolm Gladwell, Jacob Weisberg) is “Cautionary Tales“. Tim has appeared on the Colbert Report, Newsnight, Marketplace, Planet Money, PM, Today, The One Show and many other popular radio and TV programs. His writing has been published by the leading magazines and newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic, including Esquire, Forbes, Wired, New York Magazine, the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the Washington Post and the New York Times. Tim was the first Peter Martin Fellow at the Financial Times, and was a member of the Financial Times editorial board from 2006-2009. He previously worked for Shell and for the World Bank. Tim was a member of the Royal Economic Society council 2011-2017. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and an associate member of Nuffield College, Oxford. Tim was made an OBE for services to improving economic understanding in the New Year honours of 2019. He lives in Oxford with his wife and three children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we talk to Andriy Bodnaruk, professor of finance and Department Head of Finance at the University of Illinois at Chicago, about his journey through education and what it is like as a professor and department head. This podcast is the second of two parts. His book recommendations are Freakonomics, SuperFreakonomics, and The Undercover Economist. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe wherever you get you podcasts and follow us on Instagram. If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a five-star review! Check out the Junior Economic Club (JEC) at junioreconomicclub.org. Email me at david@junioreconomicclub.org. I would love to hear from you. Check out our Instagram: @generationmoney.podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/generationmoney/message

Our lives are framed, every day by data and statistics, though we may not always be aware of that fact. Helping us make sense of this universe of data is the goal of many an economist, statistician, and journalist. It’s also the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Tim Harford. Tim Harford is an economist, journalist and broadcaster. He is author of "Messy", and the million-selling "The Undercover Economist". His newest book “The Data Detective” was released in the U.S. and Canada earlier this month. Harford is a senior columnist at the Financial Times, and the presenter of Radio 4's "More or Less", the iTunes-topping series "Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy", and the new podcast "Cautionary Tales". Tim has spoken at TED, PopTech and the Sydney Opera House. He is an associate member of Nuffield College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Tim was made an OBE for services to improving economic understanding in the New Year honors of 2019.

Statistics have always been an area of intrigue for us all, but most people have no more than a passing interest - we enjoy the newspaper top lines, but that's about it. The pandemic has changed that. We now sit on tenterhooks awaiting the next wave of stats to be released by the government, to help us get a better sense of this tumultuous situation. Today's guest is Tim Harford, aka the Undercover Economist, and he's recently released a book under the title ‘How To Make The World Add Up' in the UK, and ‘The Data Detective' in the US. He explores the important role statistics plays in informing our view of the world, and why people need to think wisely about the type of data they trust and give their time to. In this episode we discover the importance of cultivating curiosity in your writing, we learn why it's ok for your characters to do something out of character, and we find out why you should avoid leaving distracting plot points in your stories. Behind The Spine is the audio accompaniment to The Writing Salon - you can sign up to the newsletter here. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epGuid: 'behindthespine.podbean.com/b0e3bd4c-ff42-30bb-9a10-a2844c5677b9', rssUrl: 'https://feed.podbean.com/behindthespine/feed.xml', backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

The economist Tim Harford shares his passion for contemporary classical music with Michael Berkeley. Tim Harford has for many years been the Undercover Economist at the Financial Times; he is the author of nine books, and is a familiar voice on Radio 4 as the presenter of More or Less, Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, and now also How to Vaccinate the World. Tim is on a mission to show us how, if properly investigated and explained, good statistics can help us see things about the world and about ourselves that we would not be able to see in any other way. He was awarded an OBE for services to improving economic understanding in 2019. Tim talks to Michael Berkeley about how his love of music developed in childhood, encouraged by his father, who introduced him to composers such as Janáček and Britten. He chooses music by his favourite contemporary composers Philip Glass, Brian Eno and Steve Reich, and a beautiful piece of choral music by Arvo Pärt that was sung at his wedding. Tim spends his working life pursuing cool-headed analysis of statistics and data but he reveals to Michael Berkeley the piece of music that makes him surrender to his most passionate emotions. Producer: Jane Greenwood A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 3

He’s a former World Bank economist who became a prolific journalist and the author of one of Steve Levitt’s favorite books, The Undercover Economist. Tim Harford lives in England, where he’s made it his mission to help the public understand statistics. In their conversation, Steve gives Tim some feedback on his new book, The Data Detective, contemplates if it’s possible to tell great stories with data, and Tim explains how making mistakes can be fun. 

Tim Harford OBE is an economist, writer and broadcaster. A Financial Times senior columnist, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s ‘More or Less,’ TedX speaker and honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, he was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to improving economic understanding. His best-selling book ‘The Undercover Economist’ enlightened millions of readers about the economic principles powering everyday life. In this in-depth interview, Tim discusses his mission to encourage people to have a positive and “healthy scepticism” towards statistics and data, as the best way to tackle fake news and widespread misinformation; shares his motivation for writing his latest book where he tempts his readers to share his love of statistics; and argues that the UK government needs to “get its priorities right on research” - with more money currently being spent on measuring sport than on crime…

Ep. 15 – Tim Harford – The Undercover Economist on Creativity by Chris Clearfield

As part of our "Inspiring TED Talks" series, spotlighting can't-miss TED Talks and their key takeaways, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover explores Tim Harford's famous 2011 TED Talk, "Trial, Error and the God Complex." See the video and details here: https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_harford_trial_error_and_the_god_complex?language=en.      Video Overview: "If the title of Tim Harford's TED Talk doesn't pique your interest, nothing will. Harford, an economics writer who studies complex systems, talks about the importance of trial and error in achieving success. Except he doesn't just “talk” about it, but presents the findings of his studies on complex systems. As the title suggests, Harford's talk centres on the concept of a God complex – refusing to admit the possibility of being wrong regardless of the complexity of the situation – and the importance of trial and error in achieving better results.  Go down the list, virtually every successful business leader used trial and error to perfect their craft."    Tim Harford (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-harford/) is an award-winning journalist, economist and broadcaster. He's the author of the bestselling The Undercover Economist, The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, Messy, Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy, Adapt, and The Logic of Life. Tim is a senior columnist for the Financial Times. His long-running column, “The Undercover Economist,” reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences. His first book, The Undercover Economist, has sold one million copies worldwide in almost 30 languages. As a broadcaster, Tim has presented television and radio series for the BBC, most famously More or Less on Radio 4. His most recent TED Talk, “How Frustration Can Make Us More Creative,” has been viewed more than 2.1 million times. Tim was named Economics Commentator of the Year in 2014, courtesy of the Comment Awards. He won the Rybczynski Prize 2014-15, which is awarded each year by the Society of Business Economists for the best business-relevant economics writing. Tim also won the Bastiat Prize for economic journalism in 2006 and 2016, and was runner up in 2010. More or Less has an outstanding record in The Royal Statistical Society's “excellence in journalism” awards for broadcasting: runner up in 2011, 2012 and 2014, winning outright in 2010 and 2013. Tim won for his own writing in 2015. He was named one of the UK's top 20 tweeters by The Independent. Tim is a member of the Royal Economic Society council and a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. He lives in Oxford with his wife and three children. Ranked in the Top 10 Performance Management Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/performance_management_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 10 Workplace Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/workplace_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 15 HR Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/hr_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 15 Talent Management Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/talent_management_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 15 Personal Development and Self-Improvement Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/personal_development_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 30 Leadership Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/leadership_podcasts/

COVID-19 has put the power and accuracy of statistics at centre stage. Infection rates, 'R' numbers, new cases, hospital admissions and the data underpinning new vaccines are being used by the media to tell stories about the pandemic, and are scrutinised daily to make vital public health decisions. It is familiar territory for 'undercover economist', journalist and broadcaster Tim Harford who explores the beauty of statistics, and their uses, abuses and shortcomings in his new book How to Make the World Add Up. The book is Harford's eighth following his bestseller The Undercover Economist, and the popular book (and BBC podcast) 50 Things that Made the Modern Economy.

Join special guest Tim Harford OBE, ‘The Undercover Economist’, Financial Times columnist, BBC broadcaster, and author of books including “How to Make the World Add Up”, and Basware’s Jason Vincelette for our latest episode of Basware Bytes. This is the first in a two-part episode called ANOTHER ERA, ANOTHER GAMEPLAN, where we cover the new normal, and how this has brought about a whole new era in financial management.

Join special guest Tim Harford OBE, ‘The Undercover Economist’, Financial Times columnist, BBC broadcaster, and author of books including “How to Make the World Add Up”, and Basware’s Jason Vincelette for our latest episode of Basware Bytes. This is the second in a two-part episode called ANOTHER ERA, ANOTHER GAMEPLAN, where we cover the new normal, and how this has brought about a whole new era in financial management.

This newsletter is really a public policy thought-letter. While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought-letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. It seeks to answer just one question: how do I think about a particular public policy problem/solution?Welcome to the mid-week edition in which we write essays on a public policy theme. The usual public policy review comes out on weekends.PS: If you enjoy listening instead of reading, we have this edition available as an audio narration on all podcasting platforms courtesy the good folks at Ad-Auris. If you have any feedback, please send it to us. - RSJAap party hain, ya broker?That line from Dibakar Banerjee’s sleeper hit Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006) sums up our attitude to middlemen. Indians have an instinctive distrust of business or ‘corporate’. But that’s small chhutta compared to our almost visceral antipathy to broker. We use dalal as a pejorative in polite conversations — it is someone who gets in the way of an honest transaction between two willing parties and takes a ‘cut’. From the trader at the APMC mandis to the life insurance agent selling you a policy that you don’t need, the middleman is the easy policy target whose elimination is seen as necessary. Nobody can see what they produce or the labour they put in, yet they seem to corner most of the profits. India might be an extreme case but elsewhere in the world too, the intermediary isn’t the most welcome of sights. For every business that has middlemen bringing the buyers and sellers together, there are scores of entrepreneurs building platforms to make them irrelevant. The billion-dollar start-up idea to disrupt any industry is to take out the intermediaries, drive the costs down, reduce ‘friction’ and offer customers a wider array of choices for free. There are two questions that interest us here:Why did we have intermediaries in the first place if they add to friction, make a cut by buying low and selling high and, in general, viewed unfavourably by everyone?Is real disintermediation possible in any marketplace?The Economic Case For Brokers The usual arguments made for an intermediary are quite intuitive. There is the market-making role, to begin with. Take flowers for example. There are customers looking to buy flowers but who don’t know flower-growing farmers. Even if they knew a few, those farmers might not be growing the variety of flowers the buyers need. In the same vein, the farmers won’t know their likely buyers beyond their immediate vicinity. The transaction costs of finding out each other for every individual farmer or buyer is just too high. The brokers step in to create a market. They understand the demand of the customers located in a specific area, search for farmers who grow those types of flowers, take the risk of buying them, then transport them to a market close to the buyers and provide an assortment of flowers as choices to the customers. There are various costs the broker incurs in this process – search, transportation, storage and risk capital. The broker makes the market ‘liquid’ – the transactions follow from there. Without these costs, there’s no market. Without a market, there’s no trade between the farmers and customers. No trade satisfying needs of two parties is a net negative for the society.There’s more to this though. Once the broker repeats the transaction over time and attracts other brokers who compete for the same buyers and sellers, we have two additional benefits for the ecosystem. One, every broker looking to increase his business works to optimise the transaction costs which then translates to lower price for the customer. This dynamism of price discovery ensures there is a continuing relevance of the broker. Two, over a period of time, the broker is able to differentiate between the output of various farmers, rate them on quality and provide additional service of ‘certifying’ the product. This deepens the market with customers willing to choose their desired quality of product and paying a price for it. However, even this example doesn’t quite capture the fundamental role of a broker in a society. Why? Because the above example is a win-win kind. Everyone benefits at the end of it. But what about instances where the size of the pie is fixed? That brings me to R.A. Radford’s seminal paper, The Economic Organisation of a P.O.W. Camp written in 1945. This 11-page paper is a deep sociological study of life in a prison camp and from it emerges a truth that’s simple and profound. The camp had over 2000 prisoners who received food parcels from the Red Cross. The parcels were exactly the same for everyone containing tinned milk, jam, butter, biscuits, beef, chocolate, sugar, etc., and cigarettes. The POWs in the camp were from various ethnicities and religions. It isn’t difficult to see what happened next. The prisoners had different preferences for the goods within the parcel. The non-smoker had no use of the cigarettes, many didn’t want the milk and the Sikhs didn’t want the beef. Soon trading started. As Radford writes:“At once exchanges, already established, multiplied in volume. Starting with simple direct barter, such as a non-smoker giving a smoker friend his cigarette issue in exchange for a chocolate ration, more complex exchanges soon became an accepted custom. Stories circulated of a padre who started off round the camp with a tin of cheese and five cigarettes and returned to his bed with a complete parcel in addition to his original cheese and cigarettes; the market was not yet perfect.”There are two fundamental truths here. First, the gift economy doesn’t stay that for too long. People like to trade. Second, a broker (like the padre mentioned) can go around enabling exchange among prisoners because he’s seen to be trustworthy and could end up with more than what he started. This is a very powerful point. Everyone who traded with the padre did so on their own volition. All transactions were voluntary. They traded because they thought they were better off with that transaction. Yet after all the trades were done, the broker (padre) made a tidy profit of a complete extra parcel. This was a classic case where the size of the pie was fixed. The total parcels remained the same. The padre merely rearranged them on the basis of individual preferences. The prisoners ended up with less than what they had yet everyone felt they benefitted. Differential preferences and different perceptions of value drive trade among people and anyone facilitating that will make a profit even in a ‘zero-sum’ scenario. This was a remarkable insight.Also, over time as the prices were ‘discovered’, preferences became more varied and barters got more complex, a full-fledged exchange developed in the camp:“…there was a lively trade in all commodities and their relative values were well known, and expressed not in terms of one another - one didn't quote bully (beef) in terms of sugar - but in terms of cigarettes. The cigarette became the standard of value. In the permanent camp people started by wandering through the bungalows calling their offers - "cheese for seven" (cigarettes) and the hours after parcel issue were Bedlam. The inconveniences of this system soon led to its replacement by an Exchange and Mart notice board in every bungalow, where under the headings "name," "room number," "wanted" and "offered" sales and wants were advertised. When a deal went through, it was crossed off the board. The public and semi permanent records of transactions led to cigarette prices being well known and thus tending to equality throughout the camp, although there were always opportunities for an astute trader to make a profit from arbitrage. With this development everyone, including non-smokers, was willing to sell for cigarettes, using them to buy at another time and place. Cigarettes became the normal currency, though, of course, barter was never extinguished.”This isn’t easy to comprehend. Nothing was being produced by anyone in the camp. Yet a market developed and some middlemen made profits. As Radford writes:“It is thus to be seen that a market came into existence without labor or production. …the articles of trade - food, clothing and cigarettes - as free gifts - land or manna. Despite this, and despite a roughly equal distribution of resources, a market came into spontaneous operation, and prices were fixed by the operation of supply and demand. It is difficult to reconcile this fact with the labour theory of value.”Despite all of this, the middleman still got a bad rap:“More interesting was opinion on middlemen and prices. Taken as a whole, opinion was hostile to the middleman. His function, and his hard work in bringing buyer and seller together, were ignored; profits were not regarded as a reward for labor, but as the result of sharp practices. Despite the fact that his very existence was proof to the contrary, the middleman was held to be redundant in view of the existence of an official Shop and the Exchange and Mart. Appreciation only came his way when he was willing to advance the price of a sugar ration, or to buy goods spot and carry them against a future sale. In these cases the element of risk was obvious to all, and the convenience of the service was felt to merit some reward.”There is no getting away from this. The broker adds value, even in zero-sum scenarios, while being simultaneously despised. This is hard-wired into us. In some cultural contexts, like in India, this is deeply entrenched. What makes it worse in India is the idea that state can play the role of the broker and eliminate the profits made by them for the betterment of the market. Multiple problems stem from this. One, the state is a monopoly. It doesn’t have the incentive like that of an individual broker to lower transaction costs and keep price dynamic. Over time the cost of this lethargy is borne by both the buyers and sellers. The agents of the state who wield the power of the broker without the attendant risks turn into rent-seekers. The buyers and the sellers are at the mercy of the broker who sets the terms of the trade. Lastly, the market gets distorted. The price loses its value as a signal. Side deals are struck. Licenses are scarce and get auctioned in informal markets. Black markets emerge. And the liquidity is held to ransom by a few people. This is exactly what happened in India when the government played the role of intermediaries controlling the APMC mandis. The government didn’t eliminate middlemen. Quite the opposite, it metamorphosised middlemen into odious, profiteering rent-seekers. A free market of brokers with regulations that prevented cartelisation would have served the farmers and customers better.Is Real Disintermediation Possible?That brings us to the question of disintermediation. The internet has reduced the search and information costs down to zero. This gives the impression that real disintermediation is possible like that done by Uber, AirBnB or TripAdvisor. But there are three flaws in this argument:Many of these platforms have turned into intermediaries themselves with almost monopoly powers in certain markets. Come to think of it even Google and Facebook are intermediaries who turn in enormous profits every year in their roles as market-makers. The one disintermediating an industry eventually becomes an intermediary.These platforms disintermediated by offering more choices directly to the customers. Over time the choices available on them multiplied to an extent that it paralysed the users. Anyone looking to choose a restaurant in an unfamiliar city knows of this problem. Soon enough you will need an intermediary to sort through the many highly rated restaurants all around.There are intermediaries whose role is exact opposite of what traditional brokers do. They keep parties apart to enable a transaction. Investment bankers and sports agents are examples of this. The intermediary keeps things on balance and doesn’t let a deal fall through by keeping the parties from directly interacting with another. As search and information costs fall, this role of keeping parties away from one another continues to remain relevant.So long as there is trade and there are differential preferences, the broker won’t go out of business. The poor image they suffer is on account of a deeply held Marxian belief that visible labour is the real thing of genuine value and anyone trading only in information or whose labour is invisible is a mere opportunist. This gets compounded when the state intervenes to intermediate themselves or allows for cartelisation of brokers. A free market where broker competes on equal terms to drive transaction costs down, provide choices and keep the market liquid benefits all. Intermediaries came into play to reduce friction in transactions. Eliminating them won’t make things frictionless. HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Article] Tim Harford’s Undercover Economist piece on the Radford paper in the FT: Rules of trading in a POW camp.[Article] “It’s chiefly rent-seekers who oppose our farm reforms”: Shruti Rajagopalan writing for the Mint on how governments legislate to create rents for middlemen that distort the market. Get on the email list at publicpolicy.substack.com

This week we speak with the economist and broadcaster Tim Harford, presenter of More or Less on BBC Radio 4 and the podcast Cautionary Tales, a Financial Times columnist and author of several books including The Undercover Economist, Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy, and Messy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tim Harford is a behavioural economist, BBC radio and TV presenter and award-winning Financial Times columnist. He offers a distinctive blend of storytelling, humour and intelligence. The presenter of the BBC’s More or Less and Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy, FT columnist, Oxford Fellow and million-selling business author is a compelling storyteller on economics, management, psychology and the unexpected bits in between. Books include The Undercover Economist and How to Make the World Add Up: Ten Rules for Thinking Differently About Numbers. 5x15 brings together outstanding individuals to tell of their lives, passions and inspirations. Learn more about 5x15 events: www.5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories

We live at a curious moment, when data and information from a variety of sources overwhelm our senses and when there are people who are working to manipulate some of that data, spreading disinformation and discord. This has led to a skepticism and distrust of data that can make it difficult to find common ground and which, when it comes to public health, may make us all less safe. Overcoming that distrust and helping people see how the world adds up is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Tim Harford coming to you virtually live from the RSS International conference, with guest host Significance Magazine editor Brain Tarran. Harford is an economist, journalist and broadcaster. He is author of "How To Make the World Add Up", "Messy", and the million-selling "The Undercover Economist". Tim is a senior columnist at the Financial Times, and the presenter of Radio 4's "More or Less", the iTunes-topping series "Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy", and the new podcast "Cautionary Tales". Tim has spoken at TED, PopTech and the Sydney Opera House. He is an associate member of Nuffield College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Tim was made an OBE for services to improving economic understanding in the New Year honors of 2019.

This week Rafael Behr talks to Tim Harford, BBC Radio 4's presenter of More or Less and FT columist, about his new book: How To Make The World Add Up. Tim Harford writes the Undercover Economist column for the FT and was previously an economics l... This week Rafael Behr talks to Tim Harford, BBC Radio 4's presenter of More or Less and FT columist, about his new book: How To Make The World Add Up. Tim Harford writes the Undercover Economist column for the FT and was previously an economics leader writer for the FT. He is also the author of seven books, including the million-selling, The Undercover Economist and before that, 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. Link to buy the book: www.hive.co.uk/Product/Tim-Harford/How-to-Make-the-World-Add-Up--Ten-Rules-for-Thinking-Diff/25138829) If you have a questions, comments or suggestions for Rafael about the podcast please email potc@larchmontfilms.com If you enjoy this podcast do please like, share and review it. Phil (the producer) This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

Macroeconomics may seem far from our lives. However, when there is something wrong with a country’s macroeconomic indicators, everybody is deeply affected. Therefore, each of us must learn how macroeconomics works. This book does not use much terminology. It uses stories that everyone can understand in order to explain how macroeconomics functions, and helps us understand our lives through economic theories.

In a complex and fast-moving world, if we want to move ahead we need to rethink the conditions for making progress in science, business and society in a fundamental way. We need to realise there is no 'right way', lose our fear of failure, embrace opportunity and take risks. We need to stop looking for leaders who can provide us with all the answers, and encourage the search for many solutions. We need to understand that to adapt to the challenges of the future, we must make mistakes, lots of them. Author and "Undercover Economist" for the Finanicial Times Tim Harford joined Festival of Dangerous Ideas to bring us wisdom from his latest best-seller 'Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure.'

A new show from Pushkin Industries: Cautionary Tales. We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “Messy” and “The Undercover Economist”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. Featuring original music and an award-winning cast including Alan Cumming and Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife), Toby Stephens (Die Another Day), Russell Tovey (Quantico) – and Malcolm Gladwell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ali Jones talks to some of our best-loved creatives about how they turned their pipe dreams into payslips. This week Ali chats to economist Tim Harford. Tim is the Undercover Economist at the FT and is author of the best-selling book Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy.

As US health insurers ask customers to wear fitness trackers, are they opening a Pandora's Box of ethical dilemmas and business threats?Ed Butler speaks to Brooks Tingle, chief executive of insurer John Hancock, which has been pioneering the controversial policy of rewarding customers willing to demonstrate that they exercise more. But Dr Michael Kurisu, director of the UCSD Center for Integrative Medicine in San Diego, asks what happens to those customers who refuse to participate? Plus the Financial Times' Undercover Economist, Tim Harford, talks us through the hazards and adversities of the insurance business, and why more information could obviate the purpose of insurance altogether.(Picture: Young man checking his fitness tracker; Credit: kali9/Getty Images)

Facts are either right or wrong, right? ...wrong? In this special episode of the This is Money podcast Tim Harford, presenter of the BBC series More or Less and all-round Undercover Economist makes a second guest appearance. We talk about facts and stats - checking them, debunking them, reporting them, baffling with them, battling over them. But that's just the start. Tim argues that we think of facts as being either the truth or lies, but that actually factual claims can form part of our identity. We talk about the importance of factual claims made by those in positions of power - but also of trying to keep some facts out of the political domain altogether. We also discuss the impact of social media on the way in which we consume news and facts. And whether we're too dependent on numbers altogether. Don't believe us? You'll have to listen and see.

Have you ever really thought about what it is that creates the modern economy? These are the things that surround us and we interact with, or depend on, everyday but rarely think about. From credit cards, to shipping containers, batteries and double-entry book-keeping, there are a lot of things that are more interesting than you may think. And for this special Christmas edition of the This is Money podcast we have a treat for you. Tim Harford, author of Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, presenter of the podcast of the same name, and Undercover Economist makes a guest appearance. He joins Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost in the studio to talk about what it is that shapes the world around us, why it matters, and how what are commonplace things now were dreamed up and then completely changed the way we live.

Today, we welcome to the show for a 3rd time, the one and only Tim Harford. Tim is an economist, author, TED speaker, journalist and broadcaster. He is author of “Messy” and the million-selling “The Undercover Economist”, a senior columnist at the Financial Times, and the presenter of Radio 4’s “More or Less” and host of the popular BBC podcast, “50 Things That Made the Modern Economy”, which is incidentally enough, the name of his new book and the subject of today’s conversation. From the plough to artificial intelligence, from Gillette disposable razor to Ikea’s Billy bookcase, Tim recounts each invention’s own memorable story and introduces you to the characters who developed them, profited from them, and were ruined by them. Former Future Squared guest and widely respected economist and custodian of MarginalRevolution.com, Tyler Cowen, says that Tim’s new book “reaffirms his status as one of the great (greatest?) contemporary popular writers on economics”. Tim and I  go an inch deep and a mile wide in this episode. In particular, we discuss 3 key topics: Why most companies that invest in technology and innovation fail and what those that succeed do differently What should Government’s role be in developing and regulating technology Why we shouldn’t be looking at emerging technologies in isolation and how the most transformative technologies often aren’t the most glamorous I really enjoyed my last two conversations with Tim as well as the 50 Things podcast so couldn’t wait to have him back on the show to broaden my thinking so with that, I bring you, Tim Harford.  Topics discussed: The inspiration for the podcast and book How inventions and innovations often have far reaching and unexpected implications UBER getting banned in London Government intervention and regulation of technology: how much is enough? Government: an unlikely source of technology innovation? How the gramophone gave rise to the ‘superstar economy’ How the superstar economy goes beyond musicians and athletes and today includes big business Elizabeth Billington and the English Premier League What do air conditioning, computers, the subway, skyscrapers, Dubai and Singapore have in common? Technology creates winners and losers Can we truly forecast the impact of technology? Why companies need to change the entire system around a technology to truly leverage it and capitalise on promised performance gains (this feeds into why most digital transformation projects today fail) Key lessons for corporate executives How the plough started everything Show notes: TimHarford.com @TimHarford on Twitter Listen to the podcast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04b1g3c Vote for the 51st thing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Y4Gn8gbQvp4X87wGLV3n4N/vote-for-the-51st-thing Get Tim's books: Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy: https://amzn.to/2N80Tbm The Undercover Economist: https://amzn.to/2NIGKbr Messy: How to Be Creative and Resilient in a Tidy-Minded World: https://amzn.to/2QoLgtZ The Logic Of Life: Uncovering the New Economics of Everything: https://amzn.to/2N4u3rE The Undercover Economist Strikes Back: How to Run or Ruin an Economy: https://amzn.to/2OdO4sz Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure: https://amzn.to/2oYqghg Dear Undercover Economist: The very best letters from the Dear Economist column: https://amzn.to/2p0mfsH ---  Listen on iTunes @ goo.gl/sMnEa0  Listen on Stitcher @ www.stitcher.com/podcast/future  Listen on Google Play @  bit.ly/FSGoog If you've got any questions on this podcast feel free to send an email to steve@collectivecamp.us or tweet me on Twitter @steveglaveski or @future_squared Like us? It'd make our day if you took 1 minute to show some love on iTunes, Stitcher or Soundcloud by subscribing, sharing and giving us a 5 star rating. To sign up to our mailing list head to www.futuresquared.xyz For more information on Collective Campus, our innovation hub, school and consultancy based in Australia and Singapore check out www.collectivecamp.us

Pure gold from the last nine episodes of The Extraordinary Business Book Club - insights, ideas and inspiration from some of the world's leading writers and some who've just begun the journey. Hear from: Christian Madsbjerg (Sensemaking) on creativity Roman Krznaric (Carpe Diem) on an innovative way to use your book's content Bernadette Jiwa (Hunch) on making time Cory Doctorow (author, blogger and activist) on the writing habit John Hall (Influence & Co) on discipline and content strategy Tim Harford (Messy, The Undercover Economist) on how speaking and writing work together  Helen Kogan (MD of Kogan Page) on what publishers are looking for  Glenda Shawley (Founded After Forty) on how her first book changed her, personally and professionally Louise Wiles (Thriving Abroad) on how fear and self-doubt nearly stopped her submitting her winning proposal It's an extraordinarily broad and deep compilation from an extraordinary group of people. As you've come to expect.   

The Undercover Economist, Tim Harford, joins Robin and Josie to talk about his latest book 50 Things, great economics writers and why it's perfectly fine to have a messy desk. And remember to support the show on Patreon (patreon.com/bookshambles) for exclusive access to extended episodes.

You've heard the mantra: 'Focus!' You know you need to niche. You understand that multi-tasking is inefficient, and you curse yourself every time your attention wanders from the one thing you know you should be working on. You're trying to put in place systems and processes to optimise how you work, and when things go wrong it feels like the universe is conspiring against you.  Sound familiar?  The good news is that it's not that simple. Tim Harford, the Undercover Economist and author of Messy: How to Be Creative and Resilient in a Tidy-Minded World, argues that a tidy mind is unlikely to be a creative mind, and it's when things go wrong that we're likely to step fully into our genius.  This is heartening stuff for me, at least, and a great insight to have in your back pocket next time someone criticises the state of your desk...  Tim also reveals how moving between different modes of communication - from writing a book to writing articles to speaking to presenting on Radio 4 - helps him clarify his own thinking, and he has some brilliantly practical advice for anyone writing their first business book.   

Tim Harford, Carla Hayden and Rahmein Mostafavi are panelists. The "Undercover Economist," the Librarian of Congress and the comedian join TMSIDK in Washington, D.C. — the city that wants to be a state — to learn about wannabes, from international spies to new human organs. Femi Oke is fact-checker.

Tim Harford, Carla Hayden and Rahmein Mostafavi are panelists. The "Undercover Economist," the Librarian of Congress and the comedian join TMSIDK in Washington, D.C. — the city that wants to be a state — to learn about wannabes, from international spies to new human organs. Femi Oke is fact-checker.

Listen on iTunes: goo.gl/sMnEa0 Listen on Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/future   Tim Harford returns to part 2 of our chat inspired by his new book Messy which explores the connection between chaos and creativity. Tim is an economist, journalist and broadcaster. He is author of “Messy” and the million-selling “The Undercover Economist”, a senior columnist at the Financial Times, and the presenter of Radio 4’s “More or Less”. Tim has spoken at TED, PopTech and the Sydney Opera House and is a visiting fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. He was Economics Commentator of the Year 2014, winner of the Royal Statistical Society journalistic excellence award 2015, won the Society of Business Economists writing prize 2014-15, and the Bastiat Prize for economic journalism in 2006 and 2016. Topics Covered:- 50 Things that made the modern economy- Double Entry Bookkeeping with Leonardo Da Vinci- Clean desk policies - Activity based working and open plan offices- The digital equivalent to piles of paper- MIT's Building 20- Diversity in friendship groups at different size universities and class sizes Show Notes: 1) Tim’s Website - timharford.com/ ‍2) Tim’s Podcast: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04b1g3…episodes/downloads  3) Tim’s books: Messy: https://amzn.to/2xz6YTh The Undercover Economist Strikes Back: https://amzn.to/2MJBEah Adapt: https://amzn.to/2xx4GnR     4) Alex Haslam - Research on office spaces - www.nature.com/scientificamerica…nmind0910-30.html --- I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you’d like to receive a weekly email from me, complete with reflections, books I’ve been reading, words of wisdom and access to blogs, ebooks and more that I’m publishing on a regular basis, just leave your details at www.futuresquared.xyz/subscribe and you’ll receive the very next one. Listen on Apple Podcasts @ goo.gl/sMnEa0 Also available on: Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher and Soundcloud Twitter: www.twitter.com/steveglaveski Instagram: www.instagram.com/@thesteveglaveski Future Squared: www.futuresquared.xyz Steve Glaveski: www.steveglaveski.com Medium: www.medium.com/@steveglaveski ‍

Listen on iTunes: goo.gl/sMnEa0 Listen on Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/future Tim Harford is the author of the bestseller The Undercover Economist, Adapt and The Logic of Life and is a member of the editorial board of the Financial Times, where he also writes the “Dear Economist” column. Tim has just released his Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives, which New York Times bestselling author, Adam Grant, says is utterly fascinating. The book celebrates the benefits that messiness has in our lives: why it’s important, why we resist it, and why we should embrace it instead. He is a regular contributor to Slate, Forbes, and NPR’s Marketplace. He was the host of the BBC TV series Trust Me, I’m an Economist and now presents the BBC series More or Less. Harford has been an economist at the World Bank and an economics tutor at Oxford University. Malcolm Gladwell says that “every Tim Harford book is a cause for celebration” so with adulation like that I simply coudn’t get Tim get away with just a 30 minute interview when there is simply so much to talk about so he’ll be joining me and by extension, you again next month for part 2 of this interview. But first, I bring you part one with the one, the only, Tim Harford.   Topics discussed: - Tim’s latest book  - The jazz composition that almost never was... and Black Sabbath - Why clean organisations are often slow moving organisations - The connection between messiness and creativity  - Our self reinforcing social media bubbles  - Should we be moving to hybrid organisations? - How Donald Trump and Jeff Bezos used chaos and messiness as an offensive weapon in politics and business respectively - How chaos can fuel your competitive strategy - Is inbox zero a waste of time?   Show Notes: 1) Tim’s Website: timharford.com 2) Tim’s books: Messy: https://amzn.to/2xz6YTh The Undercover Economist Strikes Back: https://amzn.to/2MJBEah Adapt: https://amzn.to/2xx4GnR The Logic of Life: https://amzn.to/2pkuGz9 3) Tim's Twitter: twitter.com/timharford 4) VOTE FOR US: Australian Podcasting People's Choice Awards - bit.ly/futuresquared --- I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you’d like to receive a weekly email from me, complete with reflections, books I’ve been reading, words of wisdom and access to blogs, ebooks and more that I’m publishing on a regular basis, just leave your details at www.futuresquared.xyz/subscribe and you’ll receive the very next one. Listen on Apple Podcasts @ goo.gl/sMnEa0 Also available on: Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher and Soundcloud Twitter: www.twitter.com/steveglaveski Instagram: www.instagram.com/@thesteveglaveski Future Squared: www.futuresquared.xyz Steve Glaveski: www.steveglaveski.com Medium: www.medium.com/@steveglaveski

Tidiness is tyranny, and Tim Harford is here to set you free. The author of Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives makes the case for routine-busting labor strikes, cluttered desks, and leaving your emails unsorted. He also explains why we’re smart to want scatterbrained musicians and orderly accountants. Harford writes the Undercover Economist column for the Financial Times. For the Spiel, exciting times! Let’s dig into the Indiana tax code.  Today’s sponsors: Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Rocket Mortgage brings the mortgage process into the 21st century with an easy online process. Check out Rocket Mortgage today at QuickenLoans.com/gist. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. Take a multisensory journey into the InterContinental life and discover the Empathy stories where you learn about other cultures and expand your own life simultaneously. Download the Empathy audio stories on iTunes. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tidiness is tyranny, and Tim Harford is here to set you free. The author of Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives makes the case for routine-busting labor strikes, cluttered desks, and leaving your emails unsorted. He also explains why we’re smart to want scatterbrained musicians and orderly accountants. Harford writes the Undercover Economist column for the Financial Times. For the Spiel, exciting times! Let’s dig into the Indiana tax code.  Today’s sponsors: Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Rocket Mortgage brings the mortgage process into the 21st century with an easy online process. Check out Rocket Mortgage today at QuickenLoans.com/gist. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. Take a multisensory journey into the InterContinental life and discover the Empathy stories where you learn about other cultures and expand your own life simultaneously. Download the Empathy audio stories on iTunes. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim Harford shares his prize-winning economic insights, explaining why you can’t buy a decent used car and why you should exercise caution with big data. The author of the million-selling The Undercover Economist talks about the numbers of everyday life and his journalistic career, including writing for the Financial Times and presenting More or Less on BBC Radio 4. In this podcast interview, the Economics Commentator of the Year for 2014 describes how his interest in economics developed unexpectedly. After his state school education, Harford studied PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) at Brasenose College in Oxford due to a timetabling clash at an Open Day. Harford later wanted to drop Economics, but continued with the subject because of advice from his tutor. A Master’s in Economics followed, and today he maintains his links with the University of Oxford as he is a Visiting Fellow at Nuffield College.

Modern life forces us to do a multitude of things at once - but can we? Should we? Tim Harford, the Undercover Economist who has 150 things on his to-do list, talks to the editor of the FT Weekend Magazine about the myths, science and history of multi-tasking - and how to do it well. Music credit: Jahzzar, "Please listen carefully" See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tim Harford, economist and best-selling author of The Undercover Economist and The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, discusses the necessity for humility and realism when giving economic advice, why economists don’t know everything, and how to use a Monte Carlo simulator when building a financial plan.

Tim Harford is a senior columnist for the Financial Times. His column, “The Undercover Economist,” reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences. He is also the author of Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure. In this interview, we discuss how leader’s can build organizations ready to learn from their (and others’) failures.

In his new book, Tim Harford attempts to demystify macroeconomics in the same way his earlier bestseller, The Undercover Economist, demystified microeconomics. Using his characteristic conversational style, Harford will discuss abstract macroeconomic ideas, explaining the most common models of recessions and the difficulty of discriminating between them on empirical grounds. For example, was the crisis of 2008 driven by supply- or demand-side factors? And why do failures of the financial sector seem to have such severe economic consequences? He will not shy away from other topics, including income inequality, or the growing interest in alternative measures of economic well-being, such as self-reported happiness. Please join us for a discussion of what macroeconomists believe about the economy and of why those beliefs often seem to lead to bad public policy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin Marshall talks to Tim Harford, also known as the Undercover Economist. He wrote the book of the same name as well as The Logic of Life and now Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure. In this latest book, Harford examines the value of numerous small-scale experiments — numerous enough to try many different things, and small-scale enough to fail without serious consequence — in business, technology, medicine, finance, climate change, and even his own life and career.

In 2007 Tim Harford established himself as the Undercover Economist, with a book of the same name. Now he’s back with a new book, Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure, suggesting that in a multi-polar and interconnected world, we cannot tackle challenges with ready-made solutions and expert opinions. Instead, we must adapt. Harford argues for the importance of adaptive trial and error in tackling issues such as climate change, poverty and financial crises, as well as in fostering innovation and creativity in our business and personal lives.

A conversation about speed-dating, the advantages of city life and the fun economists are having with "Undercover Economist" Tim Harford, author of The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World.