50 Things That Made the Modern Economy

50 Things That Made the Modern Economy began as a weekly economic history documentary radio series on the BBC World Service presented by economist and journalist Tim Harford. The first episode was broadcast on Saturday 5 November 2016, and all episodes are available as podcasts.

Harford explained his motivation "to paint a picture of economic change by telling the stories of the ideas, people, and tools that had far-reaching consequences". He was fascinated by the many unexpected outcomes, such as "the impact of the fridge on global politics, or of the gramophone on income inequality."^[1]

The series was subsequently released by Harford as a book titled Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy in the UK published by Little, Brown Books, and as Fifty Inventions That Shaped The Modern Economy in the US published by Riverhead Books. The hardcover and eBook editions were released on 6 July 2017 in the UK and the US edition was released on 29 August 2017. A paperback edition has been announced for May 2018.

A public call was made for suggestions for a 51st thing in August 2017. Harford chose his six favourite submissions for an online vote from late September to 6 October 2017.^[2] The winning item was announced as the Credit Card in an episode released on 28 October 2017.

Radio series

Each of the nine-minute long programmes introduces the story of fifty products or inventions that have revolutionised the modern world.

Each episode was originally broadcast on BBC World Service, with a subsequent broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and distribution as a BBC podcast.

Episode listing with released titles and taglines
Episode	Title	Tagline	Broadcast Date
1	Diesel Engine	Rudolf Diesel died in strange circumstances after changing the world with his engine	5 Nov 2016
2	Haber-Bosch Process	Saving lives with thin air - by taking nitrogen from the air to make fertiliser	14 Nov 2016
3	Shipping Container	The boom in global trade was caused by a simple steel box	19 Nov 2016
4	Concrete	It's improved health, school attendance, agricultural productivity and farm worker wages	26 Nov 2016
5	iPhone	How Uncle Sam played an essential role in the creation and development of the iPhone	3 Dec 2016
6	Barcode	How vast mega-stores emerged with the help of a design originally drawn in the sand	10 Dec 2016
7	Banking	Warrior monks, crusaders and the mysterious origins of modern banking	17 Dec 2016
8	Lightbulb	Once too precious to use, light is now too cheap to notice	24 Dec 2016
9	M-Pesa	Transferring money by text message is far safer and more convenient than cash	31 Dec 2016
10	Compiler	Installing Windows might take 5,000 years without it	7 Jan 2017
11	Billy Bookcase	Low cost, functional and brilliantly efficient, one is produced every three seconds	14 Jan 2017
12	Antibiotics	The tale of antibiotics is a cautionary one, and economic incentives are often to blame	20 Jan 2017
13	Paper	The Gutenberg press changed the world – but it could not have done so without paper	28 Jan 2017
14	Insurance	Insurance is as old as gambling, but it’s fundamental to the way the modern economy works	4 Feb 2017
15	Google	The words 'clever' and 'death' crop up less often than 'Google' in conversation	11 Feb 2017
16	Clock	The clock was invented in 1656 and has become an essential part of the modern economy	18 Feb 2017
17	Disposable Razor	King Camp Gillette created the disposable razor. But his influence extends beyond shaving	25 Feb 2017
18	Robot	Robots threaten the human workforce, but they are crucial to the modern economy	4 Mar 2017
19	Public-Key Cryptography	Geeks versus government – the story of public key cryptography	11 Mar 2017
20	Battery	The story of the battery begins inside a dead murderer. It’s a tale that’s far from over	18 Mar 2017
21	Gramophone	"Superstar” economics – the story of how the gramophone led to a winner-take-all market	25 Mar 2017
22	TV Dinner	The TV dinner, and other inventions from the same era, made a lasting economic impression	1 Apr 2017
23	Contraceptive Pill	The pill wasn’t just socially revolutionary, it also sparked an economic revolution	8 Apr 2017
24	Elevator	The safety elevator is a mass transit system that has changed the shape of our cities	15 Apr 2017
25	Air Conditioning	Invented for the printing industry, air conditioning now influences where and how we live	22 Apr 2017
26	Cuneiform	Cuneiform, the earliest known script, was used to create the world’s first accounts	29 Apr 2017
27	Video Games	From Spacewar to Pokemon Go, video games have shaped the modern economy in surprising ways	6 May 2017
28	Intellectual Property	Intellectual property reflects an economic trade off when it comes to innovation	13 May 2017
29	Passports	If anyone could work anywhere, some economists think global economic output would double	22 May 2017
30	Tally Stick	The tally stick shows us what money really is: a kind of debt that can be traded freely	27 May 2017
31	Index Fund	Warren Buffett is one of the world’s great investors. His advice? Invest in an index fund	3 Jun 2017
32	Infant Formula	For many new mothers who want, or need, to get back to work, infant formula is a godsend	10 Jun 2017
33	Tax Havens	Gabriel Zucman invented an ingenious way to estimate how much wealth is hidden offshore	17 Jun 2017
34	Barbed Wire	“Lighter than air, stronger than whiskey” – barbed wire wreaked huge changes in America	24 Jun 2017
35	Department Store	Harry Selfridge pioneered a whole new retail experience with his London department store	1 Jul 2017
36	Leaded Petrol	When lead was added to petrol it made cars more powerful – but it also poisoned people	8 Jul 2017
37	Dynamo	The big story behind the way dynamos made electricity useful	15 Jul 2017
38	Limited Liability Company	How some legal creativity has created vast wealth down the centuries	22 Jul 2017
39	Paper Money	Currency derives value from trust in the government which issues it	29 Jul 2017
40	Seller Feedback	Without seller feedback, companies like eBay might not have grown as they have	5 Aug 2017
41	Plastic	We make so much plastic these days that it takes about eight percent of oil production	12 Aug 2017
42	Market Research	Market research marked a shift from a producer-led to consumer-led approach to business	19 Aug 2017
43	Radar	A high-tech ‘death ray’ capable of zapping sheep led to the invention of radar	26 Aug 2017
44	S-Bend	The S-bend was a pipe with a curve in it, an invention that led to public sanitation	2 Sep 2017
45	Double-entry Bookkeeping	Market research marked a shift from a producer-led to consumer-led approach to business	9 Sep 2017
46	Management Consulting	If managers often have a bad reputation, what should we make of the people who tell managers how to manage?	16 Sep 2017
47	Property Register	Property rights for the world's poor could unlock trillions in ‘dead capital’	30 Sep 2017
48	Welfare State	Do welfare states boost economic growth, or stunt it? It’s not an easy question to answer	7 Sep 2017
49	Cold Chain	Refrigeration revolutionised the food industry, and other industries too	14 Oct 2017
50	Plough	The plough kick-started civilisation - and ultimately made our modern economy possible	21 Oct 2017
51	Number 51	Revealed – the winning 51st Thing! Which “thing” won the vote to be added to our list?	28 Oct 2017

51st Thing

The shortlist selected by Tim Harford for public vote as the 51st thing was:

The item selected by public vote was the Credit Card, announced by Tim Harford in the episode entitled “Number 51”

Book Chapters

Each of the short chapters describes fifty products or inventions that have revolutionised the modern world.

The book title uses the word Fifty whereas the radio programme uses the number 50. The chapter order is different to the radio broadcast and podcast order, some book chapters have modified titles, and the chapters are grouped into sections in the book.

Book chapter listing
Chapter	Title
Introduction
1	The Plough
I. Winners and Losers
2	Gramophone
3	Barbed Wire
4	Seller Feedback
5	Google Search
6	Passports
7	Robots
8	The Welfare State
II. Reinventing How We Live
9	Infant Formula
10	TV Dinners
11	The Pill
12	Video Games
13	Market Research
14	Air Conditioning
15	Department Stores
III. Inventing New Systems
16	The Dynamo
17	The Shipping Container
18	The Barcode
19	The Cold Chain
20	Tradable Debt and the Tally Stick
21	Billy Bookcase
22	Elevator
IV. Ideas About Ideas
23	Cuneiform
24	Public-Key Cryptography
25	Double-Entry Bookkeeping
26	Limited Liability Companies
27	Management Consulting
28	Intellectual Property
29	The Compiler
V. Where Do Inventions Come From
30	The iPhone
31	Diesel Engines
32	Clocks
33	The Haber-Bosch Process
34	Radar
35	Batteries
36	Plastic
VI. The Visible Hand
37	The Bank
38	Razors and Blades
39	Tax Havens
40	Leaded Petrol
41	Antibiotics in Farming
42	M-Pesa
43	Property Registers
VII. Inventing the Wheel
44	Paper
45	Index Funds
46	The S-bend
47	Paper Money
48	Concrete
49	Insurance
Epilogue
50	Lightbulb

References

↑ "BBC World Service invites suggestions for the ’51st Thing’ that made the modern economy", BBC World Service, 19 August 2017. Retrieved on 10 September 2017.
↑ "Vote for the 51st Thing!". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "BBC World Service invites suggestions for the ’51st Thing’ that made the modern economy", BBC World Service, 19 August 2017. Retrieved on 10 September 2017.

[2] "Vote for the 51st Thing!". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.