The first term of my master’s degree in economics was an alarming experience. The econometrics was bewildering. The macroeconomics was even more mysterious. Everything was drenched in incomprehensible mathematics — or, to be more honest, maths that I could not...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/the-canal-the-crash-and-the-ketamine-pushkins-reign-of-error In 1983, a plane takes off from Ottawa with less than half the required fuel on board. As the engines cut out one by one, the pilot is left with a...
In 1799, the German adventurer-scientist Alexander von Humboldt set out on what would prove to be a five-year exploration of South America. Young, independently wealthy and almost absurdly energetic, Humboldt took a vast array of instruments with him. A one-man...
It’s D-Day and the Allies are about to invade Nazi-occupied France. For the landings to succeed, American soldiers on Omaha Beach will have to break through some formidable coastal defences - Hitler’s Atlantic Wall. Sherman tanks will come in very handy - and the...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/playlists/podcast/ https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/schr-dingers-spy-businessman-fraud-or-russian-agent-with-sam-jones When the Financial Times uncovered the billion-dollar Wirecard fraud,...
At a time when we’re all blaming digital devices for ruining our attention spans, our children’s mental health and even the future of democracy itself, let’s give credit where it’s due: my cheap fitness watch has changed my life. Three and a half years ago I started...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/missing-fish-and-fatal-feasts-ritual-and-ruin-at-the-sun-king-s-table/ In the gilded court of Louis XIV, 17th Century France, manners are everything. Where to sit, how to eat, what to wear - any misstep is...
Once artificial intelligence really gets going, how fast can the economy grow? Five per cent a year? Ten per cent? Fifty per cent? Name your number. If you want press coverage, make it a big one. ARK Invest, an investment manager focused on disruptive innovations, has...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/dont-panic-douglas-adams-guide-to-tomorrow-with-arvind-ethan-david/ Writer Douglas Adams, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, used science fiction and satire to warn us about potential...