Tim Harford

Thinker
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Not All Economists Have Neat Bookshelves

Intro

Tim Harford, although now a famous economist, doesn’t like to think in discrete terms. He is a disruptor—someone who lives outside the box—and has made a name for himself through his famous research and writing on economic and psychological concepts. Since starting “The Undercover Economist,” a weekly column in the Financial Times in which he explains the economic concepts behind our day-to-day tasks, Harford has written ten books, spoken three times for TED, and hosted multiple podcasts. These include “More or Less” and “50 Things that Made the Modern Economy” on BBC, as well as his latest hit from Pushkin Industries, entitled “Cautionary Tales.” Harford’s early writing focuses on making economic concepts accessible to everyday readers. His work has expanded into the fields of behavioral science and psychology, as he examines concepts like attention, rationality, creativity, and decision making.

Someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Oscar Wilde’s definition of a cynic, now commonly applied to economists.


– Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist

About the Authors

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Dan Pilat

Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.

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Dr. Sekoul Krastev

Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.

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