--- title: History’s Best Overlooked Inventions description: When it comes to inventions that changed the world, most history books cite the usual suspects--including clocks, paper and the lightbulb. But Tim Harford's Fifty... canonical: https://time.com/4931065/fifty-inventions-that-shaped-the-modern-economy-review/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-07T10:10:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:19:19.464Z article:section: Ideas og:title: History’s Best Overlooked Inventions og:description: When it comes to inventions that changed the world, most history books cite the usual suspects--including clocks, paper and the lightbulb. But Tim Harford's Fifty... og:url: https://time.com/4931065/fifty-inventions-that-shaped-the-modern-economy-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd189a7e2c7cb7423/6988dcbefb4eac31c08939da/history-best-overlooked-inventions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: History-best-overlooked-inventions og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: History’s Best Overlooked Inventions twitter:description: When it comes to inventions that changed the world, most history books cite the usual suspects--including clocks, paper and the lightbulb. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Sep 7, 2017 10:10 AM UTC  Fifty Inventions That Shaped The Modern Economy book cover Fifty Inventions That Shaped The Modern Economy book cover by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Sep 7, 2017 10:10 AM UTC When it comes to inventions that changed the world, most history books cite the usual suspects–including clocks, paper and the lightbulb. But Tim Harford’s _Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy_ shines a spotlight on objects of less renown. Take barbed wire, which allowed settlers to delineate (and therefore cultivate) property on the American prairie in a way that would have been cost-prohibitive with wooden fencing. Or the replaceable razor blade, which introduced the two-part pricing model–pay now for the razor and later for more blades–that was eventually used with printers and ink cartridges, espresso machines and coffee pods, and more. Or Ikea’s Billy bookcase, which helped bridge the gap between “cheap to produce” and “aesthetically acceptable.” The Billy, Harford explains, “is a symbol of how innovation in the modern economy isn’t just about snazzy new technologies, but also boringly efficient systems.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4931065/fifty-inventions-that-shaped-the-modern-economy-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4931065/fifty-inventions-that-shaped-the-modern-economy-review/"},"headline":"History's Best Overlooked Inventions","datePublished":"2017-09-07T10:10:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:19:19.464Z","description":"When it comes to inventions that changed the world, most history books cite the usual suspects--including clocks, paper and the lightbulb. 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