50 Things That Made the Modern Economy - Disposable Razor

Disposable Razor

02/25/17 • 9 min

3 Listeners

King Camp Gillette came up with an idea which has helped shape the modern economy. He invented the disposable razor blade. But, perhaps more significantly, he invented the two-part pricing model which works by imposing what economists call “switching costs”. If you’ve ever bought replacement cartridges for an inkjet printer you experienced both when you discovered that they cost almost as much as the printer itself. It’s also known as the “razor and blades” model because that’s where it first drew attention, thanks to King Camp Gillette. Attract people with a cheap razor, then repeatedly charge them for expensive replacement blades. As Tim Harford explains, it’s an idea which has been remarkably influential.

Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon

(Image: Razor, Credit: Shutterstock)

Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon

(Image: Razor, Credit: Shutterstock)

Previous Episode

Clock

There’s no such thing as “the correct time”. Like the value of money, it’s a convention that derives its usefulness from the widespread acceptance of others. But there is such a thing as accurate timekeeping. That dates from 1656, and a Dutchman named Christiaan Huygens. In the centuries since, as Tim Harford explains, the clock has become utterly essential to almost every area of the modern economy.

Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon

(Image: A wall clock. Credit: Shutterstock)

Next Episode

Robot

Robots threaten the human workforce, but their ubiquity and growing competence make them crucial to the modern economy. In 1961 General Motors installed the first Unimate at one of its plants. It was a one-armed robot resembling a small tank that was used for tasks like welding. Now, as Tim Harford explains, the world’s robot population is expanding rapidly (the robot “birth rate” is almost doubling every five years) and, coupled with rapid advances in artificial intelligence, robots are changing the world of work in unexpected ways.

(Photo: Robot, Credit: Toru Yamanaka/Getty Images)