Tim Harford

Tim Harford

Economist, Journalist

Tim Harford OBE is a British economist and journalist who writes the long running Undercover Economist column for the Financial Times and presents the BBC Radio 4 programme More or Less. His books, including Adapt, Messy, and The Data Detective, explore how economic thinking and statistical reasoning can illuminate everyday life. He is a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.

2
Books Written
4
Books Recommended

Books by Tim Harford

Messy by Tim Harford

Messy

by Tim Harford

star4

Harford argues that messy environments, improvisation, and randomness often outperform rigid planning. Disorder fuels creativity and resilience when we stop fighting it.

psychologybusiness
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Adapt by Tim Harford

Adapt

by Tim Harford

star4.1

Harford argues complex problems yield to biological-style trial and error, not top-down grand plans. Adaptation needs variation, survivable failure, and honest selection, most institutions resist all three.

businessscience
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Most Recommended by Tim

The books Tim Harford references, cites, and recommends most frequently.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Thinking, Fast and Slow

by Daniel Kahneman

star4.2

Kahneman reveals that our minds run on two systems: fast intuition and slow deliberation. Most errors in judgement come from trusting System 1 when the situation demands System 2's careful analysis.

psychology
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Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow

by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

star4.1

Csikszentmihalyi identifies the state of total absorption where time vanishes and performance peaks. Flow is not random, it arises from clear goals, immediate feedback, and matched challenge.

psychology
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The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen

The Innovator's Dilemma

by Clayton Christensen

star4.3

Christensen explains why successful companies fail: they rationally ignore disruptive innovations that initially serve small, unprofitable markets, until those markets overtake them entirely.

businesstechnology
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The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

The Lean Startup

by Eric Ries

star4.4

Ries argues most startups fail by building products nobody wants. The solution: treat your business as an experiment, measure validated learning, and pivot before you run out of cash.

businesstechnology
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Influence Map

Who Tim draws from, and who draws from Tim — aggregated across every book in this collection. Counts show the number of citation links, not the depth of each one.

Tim cites most often

  1. 1Daniel Kahneman
    1 link
  2. 2Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
    1 link
  3. 3Clayton Christensen
    1 link
  4. 4Eric Ries
    1 link