Revealed – the winning 51st Thing! Which “thing” won the vote to be added to our list of 50? Discover what it is and why it is worthy of being Number 51.
Revealed – the winning 51st Thing! What won the vote to be added to our list of 50? We asked for ideas for an extra “thing” that made the modern economy. We received hundreds of suggestions. Thousands of votes were cast on our shortlist of six. Now we have a winner. Discover what it is and why it is worthy of being Number 51.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ben Crighton
Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon
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Should you be trusted with a credit card?
Duration: 01:46
Sources and related links
Thomas A. Durkin - Consumer Credit and the American Economy, Oxford University Press, 2014
David S. Evans and Richard Scmalensee - Playing with Plastic: The digital revolution in buying and borrowing, MIT Press, 1999
Lewis Mandell - The credit card industry and the Department store museum
The cardboard beginnings of the credit card - NY Times
History of IBM - Magnetic stripe technology
Maddy Savage - 'Why Sweden is close to becoming a cashless economy - BBC News
Rising Household Debt: What it means for growth and stability - IMFBlog
Broadcasts
- Sat 28 Oct 201702:50GMTBBC World Service except Online, Australasia, News Internet & UK DAB/Freeview
- Sat 28 Oct 201719:50GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
Podcast
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50 Things That Made the Modern Economy
The stories of inventions, ideas and innovations which helped create the economic world
