Timothy Douglas Harford (born 27 September 1973) is an English economic journalist who lives in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

.Video (and audio) of interview of Tim Harford
by Will Wilkinson on Bloggingheads.tvAn interview with Tim Harford about ''The Logic of Life''
on ''The Marketplace of Ideas'' Harford is the author of four economics books and writes his long-running ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' column, '' The Undercover Economist'', syndicated in ''Slate'' magazine, which explores the economic ideas behind everyday experiences. His column in the ''

'', ''Since You Asked'', ran between 2011 and 2014 and offered a sceptical look at the news of the week. Since October 2007 Harford has presented the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

programme '' More or Less.'' The series segments are also available as podcasts. Subsequently, Harford launched his own podcast on the podcast production network Pushkin Industries, called ''Cautionary Tales''.

Education

Harford was born in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School and at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

, obtaining a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

Philosophy, Politics and Economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

(PPE) and then a

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

in Economics, in 1998. Harford said that he originally planned to drop economics when studying towards his undergraduate degree but that his economics tutor Peter Sinclair convinced him otherwise.

Career

Harford joined the ''Financial Times'' in 2003 on a fellowship in commemoration of business columnist Peter Martin.Blog at the FT, which began October 2007
/ref>Harford's column at the ''Financial Times''
wit
RSS Feed
/ref> He continued to write his financial column after joining

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and a member of the World Bank Group that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private ...

in 2004, and he rejoined the ''Financial Times'' as economics lead writer in April 2006. He is also a member of the newspaper's editorial board. Tim has spoken at TED, PopTech and the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. He is a visiting fellow at

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

and an honorary fellow of the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

(FSS). In August 2007, he presented a television series on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, ''Trust Me, I'm an Economist''.All is fair in love and war and poker – details of the first episode of "Trust me, I'm an economist" (BBC)
/ref> In October 2007, Harford replaced

Andrew Dilnot Sir Andrew William Dilnot, (born 19 June 1960) is a British economist and broadcaster. He was director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies from 1991 to 2002, and principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford from 2002 to 2012, and Warden of Nuffield ...

on the BBC Radio 4 series '' More or Less''. From November 2016, he presented an economic history documentary radio and podcast series '' 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy.'' Since November 2019, he has been presenting the podcast series ''Cautionary Tales''. On 13 November 2020 he started a new podcast series on COVID-19 Vaccination called ''How to Vaccinate the World''. Harford is managed by the agency Knight Ayton.

Awards

* Harford was awarded the Bastiat Prize for economic journalism in 2007 (shared with Jamie Whyte). In 2010 he again drew with Whyte, in second place. * Harford was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

''for services to Improving Economic Understanding''

Publications

* ''The Market for Aid''The Market for Aid (2005) with Michael Klein, * '' The Undercover Economist''The Undercover Economist (2005), * '' The Logic of Life'' * ''Dear Undercover Economist: Priceless Advice on Money, Work, Sex, Kids, and Life's Other Challenges''Dear Undercover Economist: Priceless Advice on Money, Work, Sex, Kids, and Life's Other Challenges (2009). New York, Random House. 2009. * ''Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure'' * ''The Undercover Economist Strikes Back: How to Runor Ruinan Economy'''The Undercover Economist Strikes Back: How to Runor Ruinan Economy (2014). Penguin Riverhead Books (US). * ''Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives''Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives (2016). Riverhead Books. * '' Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy''50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (2017). Little, Brown. * ''The Next Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy''The Next Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy (2020). The Bridge Street Press. * ''How to Make the World Add Up: Ten Rules for Thinking Differently About Numbers''How to Make the World Add Up: Ten Rules for Thinking Differently About Numbers (2020). Little, Brown. published in North America as: ''The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics''The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics (2021). Riverhead Books.

Personal life

Harford lives in Oxford with his wife Fran Monks, a photographer, and their three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harford, Tim 1973 births Living people English economists English male journalists Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Bastiat Prize winners Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Financial Times people People educated at Aylesbury Grammar School Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Statistical Society 21st-century British economists 21st-century English male writers 21st-century British journalists