大象传媒

鈥淚, Pencil, simple though I appear to be, merit your wonder and awe, a claim I shall attempt to prove.鈥�
So declares the slim, graphite-spined narrator of one of the most famous essays in economic history, 鈥淚, Pencil鈥�. The pencil claims to be a miracle product of the free market 鈥� but is that true? Why, asks Tim Harford, do engineers, as well as economists like himself, think the pencil is so underrated? And how on earth do pencil-makers get the lead inside the wood?

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon