''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Economist Group, with its core editorial offices in the United States, as well as across major cities in continental Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. In 2019, its average global print circulation was over 909,476; this, combined with its digital presence, runs to over 1.6 million. Across its social media platforms, it reaches an audience of 35 million, as of 2016. The newspaper has a prominent focus on data journalism and interpretive analysis over original reporting, to both criticism and acclaim. Founded in 1843, ''The Economist'' was first circulated by Scottish economist

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

to muster support for abolishing the British

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...

(1815–1846), a system of import tariffs. Over time, the newspaper's coverage expanded further into political economy and eventually began running articles on current events, finance, commerce, and British politics. Throughout the mid-to-late 20th century, it greatly expanded its layout and format, adding opinion columns, special reports, political cartoons, reader letters, cover stories, art critique, book reviews, and technology features. The paper is often recognizable by its fire engine red nameplate and illustrated, topical covers. Individual articles are written anonymously, with no byline, in order for the paper to speak as one collective voice. It is supplemented by its sister lifestyle magazine, '' 1843'', and a variety of podcasts, films, and books. The editorial stance of ''The Economist'' primarily revolves around classical, social, and most notably economic liberalism. It has supported radical centrism as the concept became established in the late 20th century, favouring policies and governments that maintain centrist politics. The newspaper typically champions economic liberalism, particularly free markets, free trade, free immigration, deregulation, and globalisation. Despite a pronounced editorial stance, it is seen as having little reporting bias, and as exercising rigorous fact-checking and strict copyediting. Its extensive use of word play, high subscription prices, and depth of coverage has linked the paper with a high-income and educated readership, drawing both positive and negative connotations. In line with this, it claims to have an influential readership of prominent business leaders and policy-makers.

History

''The Economist'' was founded by the British businessman and banker

in 1843, to advance the repeal of the

, a system of import tariffs. A prospectus for the newspaper from 5 August 1843 enumerated thirteen areas of coverage that its editors wanted the publication to focus on: # Original leading articles, in which free-trade principles will be most rigidly applied to all the important questions of the day. # Articles relating to some practical, commercial, agricultural, or foreign topic of passing interest, such as foreign treaties. # An article on the elementary principles of political economy, applied to practical experience, covering the laws related to prices, wages, rent, exchange, revenue and taxes. # Parliamentary reports, with particular focus on commerce, agriculture and free trade. # Reports and accounts of popular movements advocating free trade. # General news from the Court of St James's, the Metropolis, the

Provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, Scotland, and Ireland. # Commercial topics such as changes in fiscal regulations, the state and prospects of the markets, imports and exports, foreign news, the state of the manufacturing districts, notices of important new mechanical improvements, shipping news, the money market, and the progress of railways and public companies. # Agricultural topics, including the application of geology and chemistry; notices of new and improved implements, state of crops, markets, prices, foreign markets and prices converted into English money; from time to time, in some detail, the plans pursued in Belgium, Switzerland, and other well-cultivated countries. #

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

and foreign topics, including trade, produce, political and fiscal changes, and other matters, including exposés on the evils of restriction and protection, and the advantages of free intercourse and trade. # Law reports, confined chiefly to areas important to commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture. # Books, confined chiefly, but not so exclusively, to commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture, and including all treatises on political economy, finance, or taxation. # A commercial gazette, with prices and statistics of the week. # Correspondence and inquiries from the newspaper's readers. Wilson described it as taking part in "a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress", a phrase which still appears on its masthead as the publication's mission. It has long been respected as "one of the most competent and subtle Western periodicals on public affairs". It was cited by

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

in his formulation of socialist theory because Marx felt the publication epitomised the interests of the bourgeoisie. He wrote that "the London ''Economist'', the European organ of the aristocracy of finance, described most strikingly the attitude of this class." In 1915, revolutionary Vladimir Lenin referred to ''The Economist'' as a "journal that speaks for British millionaires". Additionally, Lenin stated that ''The Economist'' held a "bourgeois-pacifist" position and supported peace out of fear of revolution. The Economist 2019 1 o

In 1920, the paper's circulation rose to 6,170. In 1934, it underwent its first major redesign. The current fire engine red nameplate was created by Reynolds Stone in 1959. In 1971, ''The Economist'' changed its broadsheet format into a magazine-style perfect-bound formatting. In January 2012, ''The Economist'' launched a new weekly section devoted exclusively to China, the first new country section since the introduction of one on the United States in 1942. In 1991, James Fallows argued in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' that ''The Economist'' used editorial lines that contradicted the news stories they purported to highlight. In 1999, Andrew Sullivan complained in '' The New Republic'' that it uses "marketing genius" to make up for deficiencies in original reporting, resulting in "a kind of ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

''" for America's corporate elite. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote that "its writers rarely see a political or economic problem that cannot be solved by the trusted three-card trick of privatisation, deregulation and liberalisation". In 2005, the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' named it the best English-language paper noting its strength in international reporting where it does not feel moved to "cover a faraway land only at a time of unmitigated disaster" and that it kept a wall between its reporting and its more conservative editorial policies. In 2008,

Jon Meacham Jon Ellis Meacham (; born May 20, 1969) is an American writer, reviewer, historian and presidential biographer who is serving as the current Canon Historian of the Washington National Cathedral since November 7, 2021. A former executive editor ...

, former editor of ''Newsweek'' and a self-described "fan", criticised ''The Economist'' focus on analysis over original reporting. In 2012, ''The Economist'' was accused of hacking into the computer of Justice Mohammed Nizamul Huq of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, leading to his resignation as the chairman of the International Crimes Tribunal. In August 2015,

Pearson Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education *Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada *Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC *Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies *Pearson PLC, a UK-based int ...

sold its 50% stake in the newspaper to the Italian

Agnelli family The Agnelli family () is an Italian multi-industry business dynasty founded by Giovanni Agnelli, one of the original founders of the Fiat motor company which became Italy's largest automobile manufacturer. They are also primarily known for other a ...

's investment company, Exor, for £469 million ( US$531 million) and the paper re-acquired the remaining shares for £182 million ($206 million).

Organisation

Shareholders

Pearson plc held a 50% shareholding via The Financial Times Limited until August 2015. At that time, Pearson sold their share in the Economist. The

's Exor paid £287m to raise their stake from 4.7% to 43.4% while the Economist paid £182m for the balance of 5.04m shares which will be distributed to current shareholders. Aside from the Agnelli family, smaller shareholders in the company include Cadbury, Rothschild (21%), Schroder, Layton and other family interests as well as a number of staff and former staff shareholders. A board of trustees formally appoints the editor, who cannot be removed without its permission. The Economist Newspaper Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Economist Group. Sir

Evelyn Robert de Rothschild Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild (29 August 1931 – 7 November 2022) was a British financier and a member of the Rothschild family. Early life Evelyn de Rothschild was born on 29 August 1931. The son of Anthony Gustav de Rothschild ( ...

was Chairman of the company from 1972 to 1989. Although ''The Economist'' has a global emphasis and scope, about two-thirds of the 75 staff journalists are based in the London borough of Westminster. However, due to half of all subscribers originating in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, ''The Economist'' has core editorial offices and substantial operations in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Editor

Zanny Minton Beddoes World Economic Forum 2013 cropped

The editor-in-chief, commonly known simply as "the Editor", of ''The Economist'' is charged with formulating the paper's editorial policies and overseeing corporate operations. Since its 1843 founding, the editors have been: #

: 1843–1857 # Richard Holt Hutton: 1857–1861 # Walter Bagehot: 1861–1877 # Daniel Conner Lathbury: 1877–1881 (''jointly'') #

Robert Harry Inglis Palgrave Sir Robert Harry Inglis Palgrave (11 June 1827 – 25 January 1919) was a British economist. Early life Robert Harry Inglis Palgrave was born on 11 June 1827. He was the son of Francis Palgrave (born Cohen) and his wife Elizabeth Turner, ...

: 1877–1883 (''jointly'') # Edward Johnstone: 1883–1907 # Francis Wrigley Hirst: 1907–1916 #

Hartley Withers Hartley Withers (1867–1950) was an English financial journalist and author, editor of ''The Economist'' from 1916 to 1921. Life He was born at Aigburth, the son of Henry Hartley Withers, a bank manager and stockbroker, and his wife Jane Livingst ...

: 1916–1921 # Sir Walter Layton: 1922–1938 # Geoffrey Crowther: 1938–1956 # Donald Tyerman: 1956–1965 # Sir Alastair Burnet: 1965–1974 # Andrew Knight: 1974–1986 # Rupert Pennant-Rea: 1986–1993 #

Bill Emmott William John Emmott (born 6 August 1956) is an English journalist, author, and consultant best known as the editor-in-chief of ''The Economist'' newspaper from 1993 to 2006. Emmott has written fourteen books and worked on two documentary feature ...

: 1993–2006 #

John Micklethwait Richard John Micklethwait (born 11 August 1962) is editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, a position he has held since February 2015. A British journalist, he was previously the editor-in-chief of '' The Economist'' from 2006 to 2015. Life and ...

: 2006–2014 #

Zanny Minton Beddoes Susan Jean Elisabeth "Zanny" Minton Beddoes (born July 1967) is a British journalist. She is the editor-in-chief of ''The Economist'', the first woman to hold the position. She began working for the magazine in 1994 as its emerging markets co ...

: 2015–present

Tone and voice

Though it has many individual columns, by tradition and current practice the newspaper ensures a uniform voice—aided by the anonymity of writers—throughout its pages, as if most articles were written by a single author, which may be perceived to display dry, understated wit, and precise use of language. ''The Economist''s treatment of economics presumes a working familiarity with fundamental concepts of classical economics. For instance, it does not explain terms like invisible hand, macroeconomics, or demand curve, and may take just six or seven words to explain the theory of comparative advantage. Articles involving economics do not presume any formal training on the part of the reader and aim to be accessible to the educated layman. It usually does not translate short French (and German) quotes or phrases. It does describe the business or nature of even well-known entities, writing, for example, " Goldman Sachs, an investment bank". ''The Economist'' is known for its extensive use of word play, including puns, allusions, and metaphors, as well as alliteration and assonance, especially in its headlines and captions. This can make it difficult to understand for those who are not native English speakers. ''The Economist'' has traditionally and historically persisted in referring to itself as a "

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

", rather than a " news magazine" due to its mostly cosmetic switch from broadsheet to perfect-binding format and its general focus on current affairs as opposed to specialist subjects. It is legally classified as a newspaper in Britain and the United States. Most databases and anthologies catalogue the weekly as a newspaper printed in magazine- or journal-format. ''The Economist'' differentiates and contrasts itself as a newspaper against their sister lifestyle magazine, '' 1843'', which does the same in turn. Editor Zanny Minton Bedoes clarified the distinction in 2016: "we call it a newspaper because it was founded in 1843, 173 years ago,

hen Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway *Hen, Buskerud, a village in Ringer ...

all erfect-bound publicationswere called newspapers."

Editorial anonymity

''The Economist''‘s articles often take a definite editorial stance and almost never carry a byline. Not even the name of the editor is printed in the issue. It is a long-standing tradition that an editor's only signed article during their tenure is written on the occasion of their departure from the position. The author of a piece is named in certain circumstances: when notable persons are invited to contribute opinion pieces; when journalists of ''The Economist'' compile special reports (previously known as surveys); for the Year in Review special edition; and to highlight a potential conflict of interest over a book review. The names of ''The Economist'' editors and correspondents can be located on the media directory pages of the website. Online blog pieces are signed with the initials of the writer and authors of print stories are allowed to note their authorship from their personal web sites. "This approach is not without its faults (we have four staff members with the initials 'J.P.', for example) but is the best compromise between total anonymity and full bylines, in our view", wrote one anonymous writer of ''The Economist''. There are three editorial and business areas in which the anonymous ethos of the weekly has contributed to strengthening its unique identity: collective and consistent voice, talent and newsroom management, and brand strength and clarity. The editors say this is necessary because "collective voice and personality matter more than the identities of individual journalists" and reflects "a collaborative effort". In most articles, authors refer to themselves as "your correspondent" or "this reviewer". The writers of the titled opinion columns tend to refer to themselves by the title (hence, a sentence in the "Lexington" column might read "Lexington was informed..."). American author and long-time reader

Michael Lewis Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to ''Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. He ...

criticised the paper's editorial anonymity in 1991, labelling it a means to hide the youth and inexperience of those writing articles. Although individual articles are written anonymously, there is no secrecy over who the writers are, as they are listed on ''The Economist'' website, which also provides summaries of their careers and academic qualifications. Later, in 2009, Lewis included multiple ''Economist'' articles in his anthology about the 2008 financial crisis, '' Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity''.

John Ralston Saul John Ralston Saul (born June 19, 1947) is a Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual. Saul is most widely known for his writings on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the Public good (economics), public good; t ...

describes ''The Economist'' as a "... ewspaperwhich hides the names of the journalists who write its articles in order to create the illusion that they dispense disinterested truth rather than opinion. This sales technique, reminiscent of pre-Reformation Catholicism, is not surprising in a publication named after the social science most given to wild guesses and imaginary facts presented in the guise of inevitability and exactitude. That it is the Bible of the corporate executive indicates to what extent received wisdom is the daily bread of a managerial civilization."

Features

''The Economist''s primary focus is world events, politics and business, but it also runs regular sections on science and technology as well as books and the arts. Approximately every two weeks, the publication includes an in-depth special report (previously called surveys) on a given topic. The five main categories are Countries and Regions, Business, Finance and Economics, Science, and Technology. The newspaper goes to press on Thursdays, between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. GMT, and is available at newsagents in many countries the next day. It is printed at seven sites around the world. Since July 2007, there has also been a complete audio edition of the paper available 9 pm London time on Thursdays. The audio version of ''The Economist'' is produced by the production company ''Talking Issues''. The company records the full text of the newspaper in

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format, including the extra pages in the UK edition. The weekly 130 MB download is free for subscribers and available for a fee for non-subscribers. The publication's writers adopt a tight style that seeks to include the maximum amount of information in a limited space.

David G. Bradley David G. Bradley (born 1953) is partner in The Atlantic and Atlantic Media and the owner of the National Journal Group. Before his career as a publisher, Bradley founded the Advisory Board Company and Corporate Executive Board, two Washington-ba ...

, publisher of '' The Atlantic'', described the formula as "a consistent world view expressed, consistently, in tight and engaging prose".

Letters

''The Economist'' frequently receives letters from its readership in response to the previous week's edition. While it is known to feature letters from senior businesspeople, politicians, ambassadors, and spokespeople, the paper includes letters from typical readers as well. Well-written or witty responses from anyone are considered, and controversial issues frequently produce a torrent of letters. For example, the survey of corporate social responsibility, published January 2005, produced largely critical letters from Oxfam, the

World Food Programme The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен� ...

United Nations Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is a princi ...

, the Chairman of

BT Group BT Group plc ( trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...

, an ex-Director of

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

and the UK Institute of Directors. In an effort to foster diversity of thought, ''The Economist'' routinely publishes letters that openly criticize the paper's articles and stance. After ''The Economist'' ran a critique of Amnesty International and human rights in general in its issue dated 24 March 2007, its letters page ran a reply from Amnesty, as well as several other letters in support of the organisation, including one from the head of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Rebuttals from officials within regimes such as the Singapore government are routinely printed, to comply with local

right-of-reply The right of reply or right of correction generally means the right to defend oneself against public criticism in the same venue where it was published. In some countries, such as Brazil, it is a legal or even constitutional right. In other countrie ...

laws without compromising editorial independence. Letters published in the paper are typically between 150 and 200 words long and had the now-discontinued salutation 'Sir' from 1843 to 2015. In the latter year, upon the appointment of

, the first female editor, the salutation was dismissed; letters have since had no salutation. Previous to a change in procedure, all responses to online articles were usually published in "The Inbox".

Columns

The publication runs several opinion columns whose names reflect their topic: *''Babbage'' (Technology): named for the inventor Charles Babbage, this column was established in March 2010 and focuses on various technology related issues. *''Bagehot'' (Britain): named for Walter Bagehot (), 19th-century British constitutional expert and early editor of ''The Economist''. Since April 2017 it has been written by

Adrian Wooldridge Adrian Wooldridge (born 1959) is an author and columnist. He is the Global Business Columnist at Bloomberg Opinion. Life and career Wooldridge was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied modern history and was awarded a fellowshi ...

, who succeeded David Rennie. *''Banyan'' (Asia): named for the

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

tree, this column was established in April 2009 and focuses on various issues across the Asian continent, and is written by Dominic Ziegler. *''Baobab'' (Africa & Middle East): named for the baobab tree, this column was established in July 2010 and focuses on various issues across the African continent. *''Bartleby'' (Work and management): named after the titular character of a Herman Melville short story, this column was established in May 2018. It is written by Philip Coggan. *''Bello'' (Latin America): named for

Andrés Bello Andrés de Jesús María y José Bello López (; November 29, 1781 – October 15, 1865) was a Venezuelan- Chilean humanist, diplomat, poet, legislator, philosopher, educator and philologist, whose political and literary works constitute an ...

, a Venezuelan diplomat, poet, legislator and philosopher, who lived and worked in Chile. The column was established in January 2014 and is written by Michael Reid. *''Buttonwood'' (Finance): named for the buttonwood tree where early Wall Street traders gathered. Until September 2006 this was available only as an on-line column, but it is now included in the print edition. Since 2018, it is written by John O'Sullivan, succeeding Philip Coggan. *''Chaguan'' (China): named for Chaguan, the traditional Chinese Tea houses in

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

, this column was established on 13 September 2018. *''Charlemagne'' (Europe): named for Charlemagne, Emperor of the Frankish Empire. It is written by Jeremy Cliffe and earlier it was written by David Rennie (2007–2010) and by Anton La Guardia (2010–2014). *''Erasmus'' (Religion and public policy) – named after the Dutch Christian humanist

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

. *''Game Theory'' (Sport): named after the science of predicting outcomes in a certain situation, this column focuses on "sports major and minor" and "the politics, economics, science and statistics of the games we play and watch". *''Johnson'' (language): named for Samuel Johnson, this column returned to the publication in 2016 and covers language. It is written by Robert Lane Greene. *''Lexington'' (United States): named for Lexington, Massachusetts, the site of the beginning of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. From June 2010 until May 2012 it was written by Peter David, until his death in a car accident. *''Prospero'' (Books and arts): named after the character from William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest'', this column reviews books and focuses on arts-related issues. *''Schumpeter'' (Business): named for the economist

Joseph Schumpeter Joseph Alois Schumpeter (; February 8, 1883 – January 8, 1950) was an Austrian-born political economist. He served briefly as Finance Minister of German-Austria in 1919. In 1932, he emigrated to the United States to become a professor at H ...

, this column was established in September 2009 and is written by Patrick Foulis. *''Free Exchange'' (Economics): a general economics column, frequently based on academic research, replaced the column ''Economics Focus'' in January 2012 *Obituary (recent death): Since 1997 it has been written by Ann Wroe.

''TQ''

Every three months, ''The Economist'' publishes a technology report called ''Technology Quarterly'', or simply, ''TQ'', a special section focusing on recent trends and developments in science and technology. The feature is also known to intertwine "economic matters with a technology". The ''TQ'' often carries a theme, such as quantum computing or cloud storage, and assembles an assortment of articles around the common subject.

''1843''

In September 2007, ''The Economist'' launched a sister

lifestyle magazine Lifestyle journalism is the field of journalism that provides news and opinion, often in an entertaining tone, regarding goods and services used by consumers in their everyday life. Lifestyle journalism covers travel, fashion, fitness, leisure, fo ...

under the title ''Intelligent Life'' as a quarterly publication. At its inauguration it was billed as for "the arts, style, food, wine, cars, travel and anything else under the sun, as long as it's interesting". The magazine focuses on analyzing the "insights and predictions for the luxury landscape" across the world. Approximately ten years later, in March 2016, the newspaper's parent company, Economist Group, rebranded the lifestyle magazine as ''1843'', in honor of the paper's founding year. It has since remained at six issues per year, and carries the motto "Stories of An Extraordinary World". Unlike ''The Economist'', the author's names appear next to their articles in ''1843''. ''1843'' features contributions from ''Economist'' journalists as well as writers around the world and photography commissioned for each issue. It is seen as a market competitor to '' The Wall Street Journal'''s '' WSJ.'' and the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

''' '' FT Magazine''. It has, since its March 2016 relaunch, been edited by Rosie Blau, a former correspondent for ''The Economist''.

''The World Ahead''

The paper also produces two annual reviews and predictive reports titled ''The World In

ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...

' and ''The World If

' as part of their ''The World Ahead'' franchise. In both features, the newspaper publishes a review of the social, cultural, economic and political events that have shaped the year and will continue to influence the immediate future. The issue was described by the American think tank

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

as "''The Economist'''s annual 50-pageexercise in

forecasting Forecasting is the process of making predictions based on past and present data. Later these can be compared (resolved) against what happens. For example, a company might estimate their revenue in the next year, then compare it against the actual ...

." An Urdu-language version of ''The World In

' in collaboration with ''The Economist'' is being distributed by

Jang Group Jang Media Group (), also known as Geo Group, is a Pakistani media conglomerate and a subsidiary of Dubai-based company Independent Media Corporation. Its headquarters is in Printing House, Karachi, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's largest group of new ...

in Pakistan.

Books

In addition to publishing its main newspaper,

, and special features, ''The Economist'' also produces books with topics overlapping with that of its newspaper. The weekly also publishes a series of technical manuals (or guides) as an offshoot of its explanatory journalism. Some of these books serve as collections of articles and columns the paper produces. Often columnists from the newspaper write technical manuals on their topic of expertise; for example, Philip Coggan, a finance correspondent, authored ''The Economist Guide to Hedge Funds'' (2011). Additionally, the paper publishes

book review __NOTOC__ A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly revie ...

s in every issue, with a large collective review in their year-end (holiday) issue – published as "''The Economist'''s Books of the Year". The paper has its own in-house stylebook rather than following an industry-wide writing style template. All ''Economist'' writing and publications follow ''The Economist Style Guide'', in various editions.

Writing competitions

''The Economist'' sponsors a wide-array of writing competitions and prizes throughout the year for readers. In 1999, ''The Economist'' organised a global futurist writing competition,

The World in 2050 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Co-sponsored by

Royal Dutch/Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

, the competition included a first prize of US$20,000 and publication in ''The Economist''s annual flagship publication, ''The World In''. Over 3,000 entries from around the world were submitted via a website set up for the purpose and at various Royal Dutch Shell offices worldwide. The judging panel included

Esther Dyson Esther Dyson (born 14 July 1951) is a Swiss-born American investor, journalist, author, commentator and philanthropist. She is the executive founder of Wellville, a nonprofit project focused on improving equitable wellbeing. Dyson is also an ang ...

, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, and Matt Ridley. In the summer of 2019, they launched the Open Future writing competition with an inaugural youth essay-writing prompt about

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. During this competition the paper accepted a submission from an artificially-intelligent computer writing program.

Data journalism

The presence of data journalism in ''The Economist'' can be traced to its founding year in 1843. Initially, the weekly published basic international trade figures and tables. The paper first included a graphical model in 1847, with a

bubble chart A bubble chart is a type of chart that displays three dimensions of data. Each entity with its triplet (''v''1, ''v''2, ''v''3) of associated data is plotted as a disk that expresses two of the ''vi'' values through the disk's ''xy'' location and ...

detailing precious metals, and its first non-epistolary chart was included in its 1854 issue, charting the spread of cholera. This early adoption of data-based articles was estimated to be "a 100 years before the field's modern emergence" by ''Data Journalism.com.'' Its transition from broadsheet to magazine-style formatting led to the adoption of colored graphs, first in fire-engine-red during the 1980s and then to a thematic blue in 2001. The ''Economist'' told their readers throughout the 2000s that the paper's editors had "developed a taste for data-driven stories". Starting in the late-2000s, they began to publish more and more articles that centered solely on charts, some of which began to be published daily. The daily charts are typically followed by a short, 300-word explanation. In September 2009, ''The Economist'' launched a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account for their Data Team. In 2015, the weekly formed a dedicated team of 12 data analysts, designers, and journalists to head up their firm-wide data journalism efforts. In order to ensure transparency in their data collection ''The Economist'' maintains a corporate GitHub account to publicly disclose all of their models and software. In October 2018, they introduced their "Graphic Detail" feature in both their print and digital editions. The Graphic Detail feature would go on to include mainly graphs, maps, and

infographic Infographics (a clipped compound of "information" and "graphics") are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.Doug Newsom and Jim Haynes (2004). ''Public Relations Wr ...

s. ''The Economist'''s Data Team won the 2020 Sigma Data Journalism Award for Best Young Journalists. In 2015, they placed third for an infographic describing Israel's coalition networks in the year's Data Journalism Awards by the

Global Editors Network The Global Editors Network (GEN) was an international association of over 6,000 editors-in-chief and media executives with the mission of fostering digital innovation in newsrooms all over the world. GEN had three main programmes: Editors Lab, t ...

Indexes

Historically, the publication has also maintained a section of

economic statistics Economic statistics is a topic in applied statistics and applied economics that concerns the collection, processing, compilation, dissemination, and analysis of economic data. It is closely related to business statistics and econometrics. It ...

, such as employment figures, economic growth, and interest rates. These statistical publications have been found to be seen as authoritative and decisive in British society. ''The Economist'' also publishes a variety of rankings seeking to position business schools and undergraduate universities among each other, respectively. In 2015, they published their first ranking of U.S. universities, focusing on comparable economical advantages. Their data for the rankings is sourced from the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

and is calculated as a function of median earnings through regression analysis. Among others, the most well-known data indexes the weekly publishes are: * The Big Mac Index: a measure of the

purchasing power Purchasing power is the amount of goods and services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if one had taken one unit of currency to a store in the 1950s, it would have been possible to buy a greater number of items than would ...

of currencies, first published in 1986, using the price of the hamburger in different countries. This is published twice a year, annually. *

Democracy Index The ''Democracy Index'' is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research division of the Economist Group, a UK-based private company which publishes the weekly newspaper ''The Economist''. Akin to a Human Development I ...

: a measure of the state of democracy in the world, produced by the paper's Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) * The Glass Ceiling Index: a measure of female equality in the workplace. * The Most Dangerous Cities Index: a measure of major cities by rates of homicide. *Commodity-Price Index: a measure of commodities, such as gold and brent oil, as well as agricultural items

Opinions

The editorial stance of ''The Economist'' primarily revolves around classical, social, and most notably, economic liberalism. Since its founding, it has supported radical centrism, favouring policies and governments that maintain centrist politics. The newspaper typically champions neoliberalism, particularly free markets, free trade, free immigration, deregulation, and globalisation. When the newspaper was founded, the term ''

economism Economism, sometimes spelled economicism, is a term referring to the distraction of working class political activism from a global political project to purely economic demands. The concept encompasses rewarding workers in socialism with money inc ...

'' denoted what would today be termed "economic liberalism". The activist and journalist George Monbiot has described it as neoliberal while occasionally accepting the propositions of Keynesian economics where deemed more "reasonable". The weekly favours a

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...

to fight

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. According to one former editor, Bill Emmott, "the ''Economist''s philosophy has always been liberal, not conservative". Alongside other publications such as

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

and

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

, it supports the United Kingdom becoming a republic. David Hume and Adam Smith statues, Edinburgh

Individual contributors take diverse views. ''The Economist'' favours the support, through central banks, of banks and other important corporations. This principle can, in a much more limited form, be traced back to Walter Bagehot, the third editor of ''The Economist'', who argued that the Bank of England should support major banks that got into difficulties.

deemed ''The Economist'' the "European organ" of "the aristocracy of finance". The newspaper has also supported liberal causes on social issues such as recognition of gay marriages, legalisation of drugs, criticises the U.S. tax model, and seems to support some government regulation on health issues, such as smoking in public, as well as bans on smacking children. ''The Economist'' consistently favours guest worker programmes, parental choice of school, and amnesties and once published an "obituary" of God. ''The Economist'' also has a long record of supporting gun control. ''The Economist'' has endorsed the Labour Party (in 2005), the Conservative Party (in 2010 and 2015), and the Liberal Democrats (in 2017 and 2019) at general election time in Britain, and both

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and Democratic candidates in the United States. ''Economist.com'' puts its stance this way: In 2008, ''The Economist'' commented that

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...

, the president of Argentina at the time was "Dashing hopes of change, Argentina's new president is leading her country into economic peril and social conflict". ''The Economist'' also called for Bill Clinton's impeachment and, after the emergence of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse, for Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. Though ''The Economist'' initially gave vigorous support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, it later called the operation "bungled from the start" and criticised the "almost criminal negligence" of the Bush Administration's handling of the war, while maintaining, in 2007, that pulling out in the short term would be irresponsible. In an editorial marking its 175th anniversary, ''The Economist'' criticised adherents to liberalism for becoming too inclined to protect the political status quo rather than pursue reform. The paper called on liberals to return to advocating for bold political, economic and social reforms: protecting free markets, land and tax reform in the tradition of

Georgism Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—includi ...

open immigration Free migration or open immigration is the position that people should be able to migrate to whatever country they choose with few restrictions. From a human-rights perspective, free migration may be seen to complement Article 13 of the Univer ...

, a rethink of the social contract with more emphasis on education, and a revival of

liberal internationalism Liberal internationalism is a foreign policy doctrine that argues two main points: first, that international organizations should achieve multilateral agreements between states that uphold rules-based norms and promote liberal democracy, and, se ...

Circulation

Each of ''The Economist'' issues' official date range is from Saturday to the following Friday. ''The Economist'' posts each week's new content online at approximately 21:00 Thursday evening UK time, ahead of the official publication date. From July to December 2019, their average global

print circulation Print circulation is the average number of copies of a publication. The number of copies of a non-periodical publication (such as a book) are usually called print run. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulat ...

was over 909,476, while combined with their digital presence, runs to over 1.6 million. However, on a weekly average basis, the paper can reach up to 5.1 million readers, across their print and digital runs. Across their social media platforms, it reaches an audience of 35 million, as of 2016. In 1877, the publication's circulation was 3,700, and in 1920 it had risen to 6,000. Circulation increased rapidly after 1945, reaching 100,000 by 1970. Circulation is audited by the

Audit Bureau of Circulations An Audit Bureau of Circulations is a private organization that provides industry-agreed standards for media brand measurement of print publications and other media outlets in a given country. The International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circula ...

(ABC). From around 30,000 in 1960 it has risen to near 1 million by 2000 and by 2016 to about 1.3 million. Approximately half of all sales (54%) originate in the

with sales in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

making 14% of the total and continental

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

19%. Of its American readers, two out of three earn more than $100,000 a year. ''The Economist'' has sales, both by subscription and at newsagents, in over 200 countries. ''The Economist'' once boasted about its limited circulation. In the early 1990s it used the slogan "''The Economist'' – not read by millions of people". "Never in the history of journalism has so much been read for so long by so few," wrote Geoffrey Crowther, a former editor.

Censorship

Sections of ''The Economist'' criticising authoritarian regimes are frequently removed from the paper by the authorities in those countries. Like many other publications, ''The Economist'' is subjected to censorship in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. On 15 June 2006,

banned the sale of ''The Economist'' when it published a map labelling the Persian Gulf simply as Gulf—a choice that derives its political significance from the Persian Gulf naming dispute. In a separate incident, the government of

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

went further and imprisoned ''The Economist''s correspondent there, Andrew Meldrum. The government charged him with violating a statute on "publishing untruth" for writing that a woman was decapitated by supporters of the ruling

Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

party. The decapitation claim was retracted and allegedly fabricated by the woman's husband. The correspondent was later acquitted, only to receive a

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

order. On 19 August 2013, ''The Economist'' disclosed that the

Missouri Department of Corrections The Missouri Department of Corrections is the state law enforcement agency that operates state prisons in the U.S. state of Missouri. It has its headquarters in Missouri's capital of Jefferson City. The Missouri Department of Corrections has 21 ...

had censored its issue of 29 June 2013. According to the letter sent by the department, prisoners were not allowed to receive the issue because "1. it constitutes a threat to the security or discipline of the institution; 2. may facilitate or encourage criminal activity; or 3. may interfere with the rehabilitation of an offender".

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Economist, The 1843 establishments in England International newspapers Liberal media in the United Kingdom National newspapers published in the United Kingdom Weekly newspapers published in the United Kingdom Business newspapers published in the United Kingdom Centrist newspapers Economic liberalism Social liberalism Podcasting companies Publications established in 1843 Newspapers published in London