Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy with Tim Harford
Jill on Money with Jill Schlesinger
Audacy
4.6 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 28 September 2017
⏱️ 37 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
How many of you rode an elevator today? Or Googled something? Or use index funds in your financial lives? I’m going to guess all of you did at least one of those things.  I’m also going to guess that you probably didn’t realize that those three things are among the 50 inventions that shaped the modern economy. That’s according to the list compiled by BBC and Financial Times journalist Tim Harford, our guest this week on Better Off and author of the new book, Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy. The book paints a picture of change by telling fascinating and compelling stories of the tools, people, and ideas that had far-reaching consequences for the global economy. From the plough to air conditioning, from Gillette’s disposable razor to IKEA’s Billy bookcase, Tim is able to recount each invention’s own curious, surprising, and memorable journey. We also touched on Tim’s previous book, Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives, which comes out in paperback this October. As someone who could be described as a bit compulsive, especially when it comes to my email inbox, I loved this book because it celebrates the benefits of messiness in our lives: why it’s important, why we resist it, and why we should embrace it.  Little did I know that a bit of mess lies at the core of how we innovate, how we achieve, how we reach each other – in short, how we succeed. I enjoyed this interview so much that, yep, you guessed it, no call this week! I don’t think you’ll mind...this was a fun one. I highly recommend following Tim on Twitter and checking out the 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy podcast. “Better Off” is sponsored by Betterment. We love feedback so please leave us a rating or review in iTunes. "Better Off" theme music is by Joel Goodman, www.joelgoodman.com. For a recap of every episode, visit https://www.betterment.com/resources/topics/inside-betterment/better-off-podcast/ Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/ https://twitter.com/jillonmoney https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/ https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/ https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money http://betteroffpodcast.com/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/better-off-jill-schlesinger/id431167790?mt=2
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Better Off. I'm your host Jill Schlesinger today on the show. Tim Harford |
| 0:07.7 | he's just written a great book, 50 inventions that shaped the modern economy, |
| 0:12.1 | some of which may surprise you. |
| 0:15.0 | It reshaped the world, the air conditioner. |
| 0:17.8 | Think about these economic powerhouses now in places such as Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai, these big glass skyscrapers completely |
| 0:27.7 | unfeasible in hot weather unless you have air conditioning. Welcome to the Better Off Podcast. |
| 0:35.0 | I'm Jill Schlesinger, your host. |
| 0:37.0 | We're sponsored by Betterment, the largest independent online financial advisor. |
| 0:42.0 | Now, by now, you realize that I love great |
| 0:46.4 | storytellers. It just it takes us all to a different place. It's why you're |
| 0:51.8 | listening to this podcast. It's why I |
| 0:54.0 | obsessively listen to many other podcasts. So in fact, I heard our guest on |
| 1:00.9 | someone else's podcast. I don't remember whose it was and I immediately sent |
| 1:05.6 | Mark an email while I was walking the dogs. Hey, let's get this guy on the show. And the |
| 1:11.0 | guy is Tim Harford and the book he was talking about when I was listening to the |
| 1:16.5 | podcast was called Messy, the power of disorder to transform our lives and I just loved |
| 1:21.9 | him. But I knew his byline. He's the undercover |
| 1:25.6 | economist. That's where he writes under the Financial Times, his column. And so it's |
| 1:30.9 | fantastic. He contributes to lots of different places, but he has written a brand new book called 50 inventions that shaped the modern economy. And I adored it. So I'm so happy that we figured out a way to get Tim live in London. |
| 1:48.0 | Now, the good news is he is incredibly entertaining. |
| 1:52.0 | In fact, so entertaining that I kept him on the line for a really long time |
| 1:55.8 | and so we're not going to do your extra call. |
... |
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