iPhone

How Uncle Sam played an essential role in the creation and development of the iPhone.

• 9 mins

Barcode

How vast mega-stores emerged with the help of a design originally drawn in the sand

• 9 mins

Banking

Warrior monks, crusaders and the mysterious origins of modern banking

• 9 mins

Lightbulb

Once too precious to use, light is now too cheap to notice

• 9 mins

M-Pesa

Transferring money by text message is far safer and more convenient than cash

• 9 mins

Compiler

Installing Windows might take 5,000 years without it

• 9 mins

Billy Bookcase

Low cost, functional and brilliantly efficient, one is produced every three seconds

• 9 mins

Antibiotics

The tale of antibiotics is a cautionary one, and economic incentives are often to blame

• 9 mins

Paper

The Gutenberg press changed the world – but it could not have done so without paper

• 9 mins

Insurance

Insurance is as old as gambling, but it’s fundamental to the way the modern economy works

• 9 mins

Google

The words 'clever' and 'death' crop up less often than 'Google' in conversation

• 9 mins

Clock

The clock was invented in 1656 and has become an essential part of the modern economy.

• 9 mins

Disposable Razor

King Camp Gillette created the disposable razor. But his influence extends beyond shaving

• 9 mins

Robot

Robots threaten the human workforce, but they are crucial to the modern economy

• 9 mins

Public Key Cryptography

Geeks versus government – the story of public key cryptography

• 9 mins

Battery

The story of the battery begins inside a dead murderer. It’s a tale that’s far from over

• 9 mins

Gramophone

"Superstar” economics – the story of how the gramophone led to a winner-take-all market

• 9 mins

TV Dinner

The TV dinner, and other inventions from the same era, made a lasting economic impression

• 9 mins

Contraceptive Pill

The pill wasn’t just socially revolutionary, it also sparked an economic revolution

• 9 mins

Elevator

The safety elevator is a mass transit system that has changed the shape of our cities

• 9 mins

Air Conditioning

Invented for the printing industry, air conditioning now influences where and how we live

• 9 mins

Cuneiform

Cuneiform, the earliest known script, was used to create the world’s first accounts

• 9 mins

Video Games

From Spacewar to Pokemon Go, video games have shaped the modern economy in surprising ways

• 9 mins

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property reflects an economic trade off when it comes to innovation

• 9 mins

Passports

If anyone could work anywhere, some economists think global economic output would double

• 9 mins

Tally Stick

The tally stick shows us what money really is: a kind of debt that can be traded freely

• 9 mins

Index Fund

Warren Buffett is one of the world’s great investors. His advice? Invest in an index fund

• 9 mins

Infant Formula

For many new mothers who want, or need, to get back to work, infant formula is a godsend

• 9 mins

Tax Havens

Gabriel Zucman invented an ingenious way to estimate how much wealth is hidden offshore

• 9 mins

Barbed Wire

“Lighter than air, stronger than whiskey” – barbed wire wreaked huge changes in America

• 9 mins