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Episode details

Sounds,22 May 2026,34 mins

Wrong Tools Cost Lives

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Available for over a year

The British Government promised to create a "world-beating" system to track deadly Covid 19 infections - but it included an outdated version of the off-the-shelf spreadsheet software Microsoft Excel. The result was disastrous. When under pressure or lacking in expertise we can all be tempted to use a tool unsuitable for the job in hand. But whether fitting shelves or trying to halt a pandemic, we need to accept that cutting corners comes at a cost. Read more about Tim's work at http://timharford.com/

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