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Tim Harford

Senior Columnist

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 ten books, including the million-selling The Undercover Economist and most recently How To Make The World Add Up and The Truth Detective. He hosts the Cautionary Tales podcast and presents More or Less on BBC Radio.

Tim is the winner of the Royal Statistical Society award for journalistic excellence, the Wincott Prize, the Bastiat Prize, the Rybczynski Prize and several other awards. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. He was made an OBE in the 2019 new year honours list “for services to improving economic understanding”.

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

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  • Friday, 23 February, 2024
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Why friends are always right — no matter their views

    Don’t blame politicians for group polarisation. We’re more than capable of doing this to ourselves

  • Friday, 16 February, 2024
    Undercover EconomistArtificial intelligence
    The real quandary of AI isn’t what people think

    Our reliance on smartphones is a clue to the way we’ll eventually use generative technology

  • Friday, 9 February, 2024
    Undercover EconomistArtificial intelligence
    What the birth of the spreadsheet can teach us about generative AI

    Lessons from an earlier software tool that changed the world

  • Friday, 2 February, 2024
    Undercover EconomistArtificial intelligence
    Of top-notch algorithms and zoned-out humans

    Can we embrace automation without switching to autopilot?

  • Friday, 26 January, 2024
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The secret to finding the best idea ever? First think about the absolute worst 

    When looking for a business breakthrough, a design innovation, or a flash of artistic insight, it’s smart to think in reverse

  • Thursday, 25 January, 2024
    FT Magazine
    It’s only a matter of time before disinformation leads to disaster

    Fakes, forgeries and the meaning of meaning in our post-truth era

  • Monday, 22 January, 2024
    Life and Art from FT Weekend podcast16 min listen
    L&A: How to enjoy more by doing less

    The FT’s Undercover Economist Tim Harford on the art of subtraction

  • Friday, 19 January, 2024
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Are economists selfish? Not according to Monopoly

    The board game sums up wider misunderstandings about the role of economics

  • Friday, 12 January, 2024
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The planet’s got 99 problems, but exponential growth isn’t one

    Mathematics can only take us so far in understanding the environmental issues we face

  • Friday, 5 January, 2024
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    For new year’s resolutions, is it better to add or subtract?

    If you make to-do lists, consider ‘stop-doings’ at the same time

  • Friday, 22 December, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Tim Harford answers more of your crazy economics questions

    Could electricity be used as currency? What if inflation was illegal? And more

  • Friday, 15 December, 2023
    Undercover EconomistGaming
    The games I’ll be playing this Christmas

    Certain games can teach us many valuable life skills

  • Friday, 8 December, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    What makes a good prophecy?

    For a forecast to be useful, it is neither necessary nor sufficient that it be accurate — here’s why

  • Friday, 24 November, 2023
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    Why the breakdown of the 9-to-5 job is making us lonelier

    Desynchronised working makes sense, as long as you don’t think too hard about real people

  • Friday, 17 November, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The rights and wrongs of copying

    When it comes to plagiarism do we fuss too much?

  • Friday, 10 November, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The data confirms we’re stuck in a ‘doom loop’

    Most Britons have their own stories about crumbling public services. Research shows how deep the problem is

  • Friday, 3 November, 2023
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    The simple maths puzzle that shows us how to separate fact from fiction

    Are you reflective, careless or hopeless? The answer might affect your ability to spot fake news

  • Friday, 27 October, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Policy lessons from the Official Monster Raving Loony party

    Their former leader Lord Sutch was a record-breaking electoral loser, but he had an enviable record in seeing his policies embraced by the establishment

  • Friday, 20 October, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Why are some jobs so ‘greedy’?

    Economist Claudia Goldin has helped narrow the gender pay gap. But working practices are still an obstacle to progress

  • Friday, 13 October, 2023
    Undercover EconomistPersonal productivity
    Why we can’t quit email, even though we all hate it

    Our inboxes contain news that ranges from the trivial to the life-changing, which is why they’re so addictive

  • Friday, 6 October, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Netflix and bill — the high price of a subscription lifestyle

    Businesses have cashed in on our carelessness

  • Friday, 29 September, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Sometimes, a random solution is best

    We don’t usually draw lots to allocate duties or privileges, but what if we did?

  • Friday, 22 September, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    PowerPoint is widely reviled. How did it triumph?

    And what can we learn from its victory?

  • Friday, 15 September, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    The art of making good mistakes

    Neither organisations nor people can learn from their errors if they deny mistakes ever happened

  • Friday, 8 September, 2023
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    A round of golf on a Wednesday afternoon? The new rules of WFH are up for debate

    Since the pandemic, work and leisure time are blurring for many former office workers

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