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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 nine books, including the million-selling The Undercover Economist and most recently How To Make The World Add Up. 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, 19 February, 2021
    Undercover EconomistEducation
    The hard lessons of home schooling

    ‘There have been moments when 1.5bn children were missing school. This is apocalyptic’

  • Friday, 12 February, 2021
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    From vaccines to homework, why humans can’t stop overpromising

    ‘Manufacturers expected to produce 800 million doses by the end of 2020. The reality was 20 million to 30 million’

  • Friday, 5 February, 2021
    Undercover EconomistTechnology
    Why investing in data is never money wasted

    ‘Without good information, we can’t track Covid cases, see which hospitals need help — or rebuild the economy’

  • Friday, 29 January, 2021
    Undercover EconomistCoronavirus treatment
    Covid-19: how close is the light at the end of the tunnel?

    Only now are the first vaccines starting to reduce the death toll — and we should see major progress soon

  • Thursday, 28 January, 2021
    FT Magazine
    From forgeries to Covid-denial, Tim Harford on how we fool ourselves

    Whether believing implausible statistics or falling for frauds, humans are addicted to wishful thinking

  • Friday, 22 January, 2021
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    We’re living in a golden age of ignorance

    Diversions, political polarisation and conspiracy thinking have all contributed to this new era

  • Wednesday, 13 January, 2021
    Undercover EconomistCoronavirus pandemic
    Florence Nightingale: the pandemic hero we need

    Most famous as a nurse, her innovative use of data helped also prevent many deaths from infectious diseases

  • Friday, 8 January, 2021
    Undercover EconomistCoronavirus treatment
    Is ‘first dose first’ the right vaccination strategy?

    Vaccine resistance and public trust are just a couple of the issues with this new approach

  • Thursday, 31 December, 2020
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    What can we learn from the great WFH experiment?

    Working from home is more productive than we had guessed but face-to-face contact will still make a difference

  • Promoted Content
  • Tuesday, 22 December, 2020
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Do bad gifts get a pass this Christmas?

    The arguments against poor presents are powerful. But has the pandemic changed all that?

  • Friday, 18 December, 2020
    Undercover EconomistCoronavirus pandemic
    Things (I think) I was wrong about this year

    ‘Was I wrong about lockdowns? I’m still sitting on the fence. I am too indecisive even to be wrong’

  • Friday, 11 December, 2020
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    In praise of the pencil, that low-key feat of engineering

    We are surrounded by high-quality, low-cost products we barely understand

  • Friday, 4 December, 2020
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    What puzzles and poker teach us about misinformation

    We cannot escape our emotions — but we can take them into account

  • Friday, 27 November, 2020
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Why we should celebrate rather than criticise Christmas newsletters

    In these polarised times, one truth unites the British commentariat: Christmas letters are ghastly

  • Friday, 20 November, 2020
    Undercover EconomistCoronavirus treatment
    Why Covid-19 vaccines face a new obstacle course

    From a shortage of dry ice to Brexit traffic jams, hurdles still threaten our ability to inoculate the world

  • Friday, 13 November, 2020
    Undercover EconomistCoronavirus pandemic
    Why are we all so obsessed with saving Christmas?

    Politicians are willing to put Covid progress at risk for the symbolic value of December 25

  • Saturday, 7 November, 2020
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Working from home: when the cracks start to show

    Hazards range from missed meetings to yawning chasms of understanding about fundamental goals

  • Friday, 6 November, 2020
    US presidential election 2020
    Why pollsters so often seem to get it wrong

    The huge win suggested for Joe Biden did not materialise — but we shouldn’t expect certainty

  • Thursday, 5 November, 2020
    Food & Drink
    Tim Harford’s fantasy dinner: Florence Nightingale and Dungeons & Dragons

    The FT’s Undercover Economist enjoys rare beef, beer and the pioneering role-playing game

  • Friday, 30 October, 2020
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Why tech isn’t always the answer — the perils of bionic duckweed

    Always waiting for the next breakthrough can keep us from taking action now

  • Friday, 23 October, 2020
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The power of negative thinking

    We should all spend more time considering the prospect of failure and what we might do about it

  • Monday, 12 October, 2020
    Undercover EconomistNobel prizes
    Winning bid: how auction theory took the Nobel Prize

    Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson’s work transformed how countries allocate resources in the public interest

  • Friday, 9 October, 2020
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Lockdown sceptics v zero-Covid: who’s got it right?

    Unsurprisingly, neither side has all the answers. For those, we should look to Germany

  • Tuesday, 6 October, 2020
    ReviewNon-Fiction
    How to Make the World Add Up — a welcome guide to statistics

    The economist offers useful rules to help understand the data behind the headlines

  • Friday, 2 October, 2020
    Undercover EconomistMental health
    Is 47.2 our unhappiest age?

    Reader, I just turned 47. Peak misery awaits me at the end of November

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