Tim Harford


Timothy Douglas Harford is an English economist and journalist who lives in Oxford. He is the author of four economics books and writes his long-running Financial Times column, "The Undercover Economist", syndicated in Slate magazine, which reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences. His column in the Financial Times, "Since you asked", ran between 2011 and 2014 and offered a sceptical look at the news of the week.

Education

Harford was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School and then at Brasenose College, Oxford. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later a Master of Philosophy in economics, in 1998.

Career

Harford joined the Financial Times in 2003 on a fellowship in commemoration of the business columnist Peter Martin. He continued to write his column after joining the International Finance Corporation in 2004, and he rejoined the Financial Times, as economics leader 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. He is a visiting fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.
In August 2007, he presented a television series on the BBC, Trust me, I'm an economist.
In October 2007, Harford replaced Andrew Dilnot on the BBC Radio 4 series More or Less. He is a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.
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.

Awards