50 Things That Made the Modern Economy Episodes Episode guide
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Fire
Does the story of economics really begin with a spark?
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RFID: The tech you鈥檝e never heard of 鈥� but use every day
Radio frequency identification is the foundation of many contactless technologies
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Postage stamp
How a disgruntled customer revolutionised the postal service
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Rubber
An everyday substance with a bloody past
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CubeSat
How a student engineering challenge has changed the way we use space
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Factory
Have factories made workers' lives better?
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Blockchain
How powerful could the technology behind Bitcoin be?
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Pencil
Is the pencil underrated?
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'Like' button
Are we addicted to getting 'likes' on social media?
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Dwarf wheat
Feeding a hungry world 鈥� how Norman Borlaug used genetics to tackle predicted famines
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Pornography
Did pornography help develop the internet?
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Recycling
Could recycling save cash, as well as the planet?
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Spreadsheet
How a grid on a computer screen gives us a glimpse of the future of automation
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Brick
The humble brick has housed us for thousands of years - will it endure?
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Mail order catalogue
How the Montgomery Ward shopping catalogue transformed the middle-class way of life
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Bicycle
Has the bicycle had its day, or is it a technology whose best years lie ahead?
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QWERTY
From the early typewriters, the QWERTY keyboard layout has stood the test of time
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Gyroscope
The gyroscope: a remarkable device used to guide everything from submarines to satellites
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Cellophane
Cellophane transformed how consumers purchased food, as well as how producers sold it
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Langstroth Hive
The Langstroth Hive: a wooden box that made the industrialisation of the bee possible
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Special Bonus: Santa Claus
Why does Father Christmas wear red and white? It is not for the reason you may think
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Number 51
Revealed 鈥� the winning 51st Thing! Which 鈥渢hing鈥� won the vote to be added to our list?
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The Plough
The plough kick-started civilisation 鈥� and ultimately made our modern economy possible
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Cold Chain
Refrigeration revolutionised the food industry, and other industries too
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Welfare State
Do welfare states boost economic growth, or stunt it? It鈥檚 not an easy question to answer
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Property Register
Property rights for the world's poor could unlock trillions in 鈥榙ead capital鈥�
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Searching for 51
The extra 鈥渢hing鈥� 鈥� what should it be?
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Management Consulting
If managers often have a bad reputation, what about those who tell them how to manage?
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Double-entry Bookkeeping
Renaissance man Luca Pacioli wrote the definitive book on double-entry bookkeeping
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S-Bend
The S-bend was a pipe with a curve in it, an invention that led to public sanitation
