Tim Harford OBE

The presenter of BBC's More or Less, Financial Times columnist, Oxford Fellow and million-selling business author, Tim Harford is a compelling storyteller on economics, management and psychology.

Tim Harford is a world-renowned behavioural economist and award-winning Financial Times columnist. Frequently described as ‘Britain's Malcolm Gladwell,' his first two books, The Logic of Life and The Undercover Economist, have been translated into 30 languages and sold well over a million copies. He is also presenter of Radio 4's More or Less, and Pop Up Economics. 

Revealing the everyday realities of economics, Tim considers how the world, people and organisations work and the truth behind risk, decision-making and commerce. Whilst he's a ‘serious' economist with a career spanning Oxford, Shell and the World Bank, Tim Harford's FT columns dwell on the economics of daily life and offer tongue-in-cheek solutions to readers' problems. 

Tim Harford's first book, The Undercover Economist was likened to Freakonomics in its examination and explanation of the workings of everything from coffee shops to organised crime to development aid. In The Logic of Life, he applied economic theory to the world adding to the store of theories from the likes of Richard Thaler and Daniel Kahneman on how rational (or otherwise) our decisions are.

In Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure, Tim showed how the challenges we face can't be solved with simple ready-made solutions; we must learn to improvise rather than plan. Drawing on psychology, evolutionary biology, physics, maths and economics, he shows how adaptive, trial-and-error processes can help tackle everything from innovation to financial crises. Gillian Tett described it as "required reading for anyone trying to navigate an increasingly complex world." Whilst in The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, Tim looks at the truth behind the headlines now that economics has become front-page news. He explains how a national economy really works, why all countries are in debt, how a job is created, and whether the bonus culture works.

Tim's explorations spans a wide array of topics, including why we might misunderstand the impact of AI (with lessons from the history of technology and innovation), the significance of learning from mistakes, coping with uncertainty, the mechanics of forecasting, and the unforeseen implications of new ideas.

Drawing from diverse realms such as the military, game shows, aviation, and music, he scrutinises established wisdom, common sense, and statistical certainties. With his accessible and engaging style, Tim provides thought-provoking insights relevant to individuals and organisations alike.

AI - parallels between, and lessons from new and old technologies; how to
work with not against AI; the truth behind the scare stories.

Pandemic lessons - how we prepare for and react to crises; what resilience in
organisations and individuals means; lessons from how the public and private
sectors dealt with vaccination from the logistics to the misinformation.

Data - how data can both mislead and illuminate; what algorithms really do
to data and how to understand it; why we can all be better at understanding
statistics, and why we need to be; how to use data better.

Adapting - embracing failure and confusion; how to learn from mistakes; how
to manage intentional or inevitable failure.

Creativity and collaboration - where creative solutions and ideas come from;
does AI help or hinder creativity and collaboration; why some ideas are
dropped and some embraced; how we shape new ideas and how they shape
us; how to create an innovative environment.

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Clients often ask about purchasing books for giveaways and delegate packs. Below you’ll find a selection of products by Tim Harford OBE. Click the images to view on Amazon's website. For bulk orders, please speak with your Booking Agent.