50 Things That Made the Modern Economy - TV Dinner

TV Dinner

04/01/17 • 9 min

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The way educated women spend their time in the United States and other rich countries has changed radically over the past half a century. Women in the US now spend around 45 minutes per day in total on cooking and cleaning up; that is still much more than men, who spend just 15 minutes a day. But it is a vast shift from the four hours a day which was common in the 1960s. We know all this from time-use surveys conducted around the world. And we know the reasons for the shift. One of the most important of those is a radical change in the way food is prepared. As Tim Harford explains, the TV dinner – and other convenient innovations which emerged over the same period – have made a lasting economic impression.

Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon

(Image: TV Dinner, Credit: Shutterstock)

Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon

(Image: TV Dinner, Credit: Shutterstock)

Previous Episode

Gramophone

“Superstar” economics – how the gramophone led to a winner-take-all dynamic in the performing industry. Elizabeth Billington was a British soprano in the 18th century. She was so famous, London’s two leading opera houses scrambled desperately to secure her performances. In 1801 she ended up singing at both venues, alternating between the two, and pulling in at least £10,000. A remarkable sum, much noted at the time. But in today’s terms, it’s a mere £687,000, or about a million dollars; one per cent of a similarly famous solo artist’s annual earnings today. What explains the difference? The gramophone. And, as Tim Harford explains, technological innovations have created “superstar” economics in other sectors too.

Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon

(Image: Thomas Edison Phonograph, Credit: James Steidl/Shutterstock)

Next Episode

Contraceptive Pill

The contraceptive pill had profound social consequences. Everyone agrees with that. But – as Tim Harford explains – the pill wasn’t just socially revolutionary. It also sparked an economic revolution, perhaps the most significant of the late twentieth century. A careful statistical study by the Harvard economists Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz strongly suggests that the pill played a major role in allowing women to delay marriage, delay motherhood and invest in their own careers. The consequences of that are profound.

Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon

(Image: Oral contraceptive pill, Credit: Areeya_ann/Shutterstock)