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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)
  • Thursday, 10 July, 2025
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    The law of unintended consequences strikes again

    A cooking oil subsidy has given fraudsters in Malaysia both motive and opportunity

    A cartoon-style red kettle emits steam as it hangs above a fire fueled by burning paper money marked with the British pound symbol
  • Thursday, 3 July, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Whose job is safe from AI?

    Technology can make a boring job even more boring and an interesting job even more interesting

    Cartoon-style wooden plaque with a drawing of a blue robot waving, labelled ‘Employee of the Month A.I.’
  • Thursday, 26 June, 2025
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    The unfolding tragedy of ending US aid

    Funding cuts could result in one million deaths in the next year

    Illustration showing a red circular pill centered on a white blister pack, set against a blue background. The pill is embossed with a simplified version of the U.S. flag
  • Friday, 20 June, 2025
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    Notes on the resistant reader

    It’s not just tech’s algorithms that skew how we see the world

    Illustration of a man in glasses reading a newspaper and looking upward, seated against a bright red background
  • Friday, 13 June, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Taco, the trade that ate itself

    Trump always chickens out — but why?

    A drawing of a chicken with exaggerated human hair styled in a blond sweep
  • Friday, 6 June, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Why is modern commerce corrosive?

    It’s a topic of today, but one philosopher hit the nail on the head years ago

    A dark blue necktie with a pattern of red hearts, tied in a knot and set against a solid green background
  • Friday, 30 May, 2025
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    Can we ‘nudge’ our way to higher growth?

    It’s time to ask whether behavioural science can tackle big problems

    A calculator with the word ‘FUTURE’ on its screen and emoji faces instead of number buttons
  • Friday, 23 May, 2025
    Undercover EconomistBehavioural economics
    Am I boring you? Good

    Smooth and successful processes are not interesting — but we neglect them at our peril

    Computer key with ‘Zzz’ symbol on a blue background
  • Friday, 16 May, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    What does it take to stand up to tyranny?

    Why some people take extraordinary risks to save others

  • Friday, 9 May, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The zero‑sum mindset is no mystery

    Stefanie Stantcheva’s economic survey of US citizens deserves the acclaim it has received

    Alberto Miranda
  • Friday, 2 May, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Beware Giffen-ish vibes in the money markets

    Strange things happen when people are backed into a corner

  • Friday, 25 April, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Seven truths about trade

    Answering the questions Trump’s Tariff Men haven’t asked

    Wrecking ball hitting a percent sign
  • Saturday, 19 April, 2025
    The Weekend Essay
    Donald Trump vs Mr Market

    As the US president’s rollercoaster tariff policy creates global financial chaos, Tim Harford asks: is he in a fight he can’t win?

    A drawing of two men, one of them Donald Trump, facing each other, wearing red boxing gloves, their hands up as if ready to fight
  • Friday, 18 April, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The value of institutional memory

    Why some organisations are condemned to repeat the same mistakes over and over again

    Cartoonish illustration of a book titled “History” inside a glass box that reads “Break glass in case of emergency”
  • Friday, 11 April, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    How to do without the Donald

    For most of us, the realm of international events is a place to visit, not a place to live

    Cartoonish illustration of a sleeping sheep, with a beatific smile on its face
  • Friday, 4 April, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Predictions aren’t always about the future

    Accuracy is hard work and rewarded late. Its much easier to make a forecast seem entertaining

  • Friday, 28 March, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Elon Musk is wrong about GDP

    The tech tycoon is not the first to misunderstand what gross domestic product is meant to measure  

  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    How to cure ‘premature enumeration’

    People who fall for trick puzzles are more likely to fall for disinformation too

    A surreal depiction of a mathematical vortex, with equations and formulas spiraling into a deep tunnel-like void
  • Friday, 14 March, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The tao of bad buildings

    The predictable demise of an award-winning piece of architecture

  • Friday, 7 March, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    Life lessons from Donald ‘Shoup Dogg’ Shoup

    The economist’s genius was to take a problem that seemed boring and trivial, and show that it was neither

    An aerial view of a parking lot with a single space replaced by a lush green garden, where three people in white clothing are tending to plants, surrounded by parked cars
  • Friday, 28 February, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The selfish guide to decarbonising

    New research suggests a US totally uninterested in global agreements would still see the cost benefits of reducing emissions

  • Friday, 21 February, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    An alternative take on Trump’s favourite word

    Seen from a different angle, would the US president still choose tariffs?

  • Friday, 14 February, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    What Elon Musk can learn from the original Doge

    Why governance matters and other lessons from 13th century Venice

  • Friday, 7 February, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    The case for ‘late bloomers’

    Ageism in the workplace is not only concerning, it’s wrong-headed

    A digital manipulation of Vincent van Gogh’s self-portrait, featuring a gold medal with a red ribbon around his neck
  • Friday, 31 January, 2025
    Undercover EconomistLife & Arts
    It’s February. Time for another fresh start?

    Most of the resolutions we make are unserious. It doesn’t have to be like that

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