I am currently reading Tim Harford's book 'Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy'. It is an interesting list entertainingly explained by Tim - a couple of my favourites are barbed wire, air conditioning, razors, shipping containers and Billy bookcases (from IKEA and well used in our house).

Among others things Tim writes a longrunning column in the Financial Times in the UK, titled 'The Undercover Economist' in which he reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences.

You can join me (and 164,000 others) by subscribing to receive free email updates from Tim at http://timharford.com/

Recent articles that I have found interesting and useful for embedding in teaching include:

• What does a robot accountant look like?

• The secret to happiness after the robot takeover

• The topsy turvy logic of Trump’s trade tirades

• Football’s minnows demonstrate how poor countries can catch up