50 inventions that shaped the modern economy

The plow

I. Winners and losers. The gramophone ; Barbed wire ; Seller feedback ; Google search ; Passports ; Robots ; The welfare state

II. Reinventing how we live. Infant formula ; TV dinners ; The Pill ; Video games ; Market research ; Air-conditioning ; Department stores

III. Inventing new systems. The dynamo ; The shipping container ; The bar code ; The cold chain ; Tradable debt and the tally stick ; The Billy bookcase ; The elevator

IV. Ideas about ideas. Cuneiform ; Public-key cryptography ; Double-entry bookkeeping ; Limited liability companies ; Management consulting ; Intellectual property ; The compiler

V. Where do inventions come from?. The iPhone ; Diesel engines ; Clocks ; Chemical fertilizer ; Radar ; Batteries ; Plastic

VI. The visible hand. The bank ; Razors and blades ; Tax havens ; Leaded gasoline ; Antibiotics in farming ; M-Pesa ; Property registers

VII. Inventing the wheel. Paper ; Index funds ; The S-bend ; Paper money ; Concrete ; Insurance

Conclusion: Looking forward

Epilogue: The lightbulb