15. Tim Harford: “If You Can Make Sure You're Not An Idiot, You've Done Well.”

People I (Mostly) Admire

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2021

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

He’s a former World Bank economist who became a prolific journalist and the author of one of Steve Levitt’s favorite books, The Undercover Economist. Tim Harford lives in England, where he’s made it his mission to help the public understand statistics. In their conversation, Steve gives Tim some feedback on his new book, The Data Detective, contemplates if it’s possible to tell great stories with data, and Tim explains how making mistakes can be fun.

Transcript

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0:00.0	My guest today, Tim Hartford, has an uncanny gift for making economics interesting.
0:06.7	His first book, The Undercover Economist, came out over 15 years ago, and it's still the
0:11.4	first book I recommend to anyone who asks me for advice about what to read.
0:15.8	He's wildly popular in the United Kingdom, where he has a weekly column in the Financial
0:19.6	Times, and he hosts a popular BBC radio show that investigates the accuracy of statistical
0:25.2	claims in the news.
0:27.0	Outside the UK, well, he's not as well-known as he should be, but that might change with
0:31.3	his latest book, The Data Detective, 10 Easy Rules, to make sense of statistics.
0:38.6	Welcome to People I Mostly Admire, with Steve Levitt.
0:45.0	I first met Tim Hartford right before Freakinomics was published.
0:48.8	I was literally the first person he ever interviewed.
0:51.7	He wasn't even a journalist.
0:53.3	He was working at the World Bank, hoping to start a second career.
0:56.4	Usually, I would turn down interview requests like that without a second thought, but something
1:01.2	made me think it would be worthwhile.
1:03.1	And indeed, he turned out to be the second most interesting Clevver journalist I've ever
1:07.3	interacted with.
1:08.3	Have to Steve Dabner, of course.
1:16.9	Tim Hartford, in the past, it's always been you interviewing me.
1:20.7	Today I exact my revenge, and I hope you're ready.
1:23.3	I'm ready as I'll have a beast if it's great to join you on the show.
1:27.0	We've all heard of Florence Nightingale, the lady with the lamp who became famous during
	...

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