• November 4 2022
  Undercover EconomistTim Harford

  Quitting is underrated

  We are far too stubborn, committing to an idea, job or romantic partner even when it becomes clear we’ve made a mistake

  
• September 23 2022
  Undercover EconomistTim Harford

  How much money will actually make you happy?

  We can all fantasise about what we need to make ourselves satisfied — and it doesn’t have to be a fortune

  
• September 20 2022
  We tried to buy our way into The Queue. Here’s what we learned

  A monarchal experiment in time versus money

  
• September 9 2022
  Markets InsightHoward Marks

  The illusion of knowledge for investors

  Why rely on forecasts if they’re so easily rendered inaccurate?

  
• July 28 2022
  Markets InsightHoward Marks

  Investors need to stay away from the herd to outperform

  Portfolio shifts should not be based on short-term results as no strategy will make every quarter or year successful

  
• May 6 2022
  FT MagazineTim Harford

  What nudge theory got wrong

  Is behavioural public policy a distraction from finding systemic solutions?

  
• December 27 2021
  Ravi Gurumurthy

  Covid has demonstrated the power of the ‘nudge’

  Policies on everything from public health to climate change would benefit from using behavioural science

  
• December 20 2021
  FT Swamp Notes

  The best and the brightest Premium content

  When done properly, systems thinking can help us solve the world’s most complex problems

  
• December 13 2021
  UK government to boost investment in ‘nudge unit’ by selling stake

  Behavioural Insights Team will attract £100m in funding to direct its messaging at Britain’s big social challenges

  
• November 17 2021
  FT MagazineGillian Tett

  Can guilt help bankers change for the better?

  Research suggests that ‘guilt-prone individuals’ may have a ‘moral advantage’ in workplaces and that banks should try to hire them

  
• October 11 2021
  Nobel prizes

  Three economists share Nobel Prize for pioneering ‘natural experiments’

  Trio challenged ideas, including work to show that raising the minimum wage need not depress jobs

  
• October 8 2021
  John Gapper

  Everyone wants to catch billionaire lottery fever

  Prize draws with jackpots worth hundreds of millions are democratic financial fantasies

  
• September 22 2021
  News in-depthReproductive rights

  Lack of abortion access will set US women back, economists warn

  Wages and education significantly affected, brief says, as Supreme Court considers latest challenge to Roe vs Wade

  
• August 30 2021
  Lex

  Game theory: collaborative kids beat the marshmallow test Premium content

  Most people want to co-operate, even when it is not individually optimal

  
• August 26 2021
  FT Magazine

  Treat brain: how the pandemic is rewiring our minds

  The comfort-seeking behaviours of Covid may be here to stay. Is that such a bad thing?

  
• June 11 2021
  Undercover EconomistTim Harford

  Mr Spock is not as logical as he’d like to think

  ‘The Vulcan is a dramatic portrayal of the mistakes economists make in assuming everyone is rational’

  
• June 4 2021
  Undercover EconomistTim Harford

  Some gripes about groupthink

  ‘While dissent leads to better decisions, it also leads to discomfort. Disagreement is valuable but agreement feels so much more comfortable’

  
• December 4 2020
  Undercover EconomistTim Harford

  What puzzles and poker teach us about misinformation

  We cannot escape our emotions — but we can take them into account

  
• November 6 2020
  Tim Harford

  Why pollsters so often seem to get it wrong

  The huge win suggested for Joe Biden did not materialise — but we shouldn’t expect certainty

  
• September 11 2020
  Tim Harford

  How quick and dirty Covid tests can help end the weariness

  A mass programme is needed because we cannot wait for an effective vaccine

  
• September 4 2020
  Undercover EconomistTim Harford

  Live events are back, but new rules make for thin performances

  Lockdowns called for ingenuity to meet the challenge of staging in a post-Covid world

  
• August 21 2020
  Camilla Cavendish

  Adult children are straining the generosity of parents

  Demands for extended support are growing, but an Italian judge has put her foot down

  
• August 14 2020
  Tim Harford

  We won’t remember much of what we did in the pandemic

  There is good reason that we have such vivid memories of our holidays

  
• July 24 2020
  Undercover EconomistTim Harford

  We fall in love with the new but not everything old is obsolete

  Cutting edge technology can blind us to the enduring value of workhorses like the 747

  
• July 17 2020
  Tim Harford

  Self-fulfilling prophecies can be harnessed for good

  But some predictions are false, no matter how much we wish they were true