Tim Harford (born 1973) is an English economist and journalist, residing in London. He is the author of four economics books, presenter of BBC television series Trust Me, I'm an Economist, and writer of a humorous weekly column called "Dear Economist" for The Financial Times, in which he uses economic theory to attempt to solve readers' personal problems. His other FT column, "The Undercover Economist", is syndicated in Slate magazine.
Harford studied at the University of Oxford, gaining a BA and then an MPhil in Economics in 1998. He joined the Financial Times in 2003 on a fellowship in commemoration of the business columnist Peter Martin. He continued to write his column after joining the International Finance Corporation in 2004, and re-joined the Financial Times as economics leader writer in April 2006. He is also a member of the newspaper's editorial board.
In October 2007, Harford replaced Andrew Dilnot on the BBC Radio 4 series More or Less.
The Market for Aid (2005) with Michael Klein, ISBN 978-0821362297
The Undercover Economist (2005), ISBN 978-0-345-49401-6
The Logic of Life (2008), ISBN 978-0812977875
Dear Undercover Economist: Priceless Advice on Money, Work, Sex, Kids, and Life's Other Challenges. New York, Random House. 2009. ISBN 978-0-8129-8010-3