After over eight thousand issues, England's weekly newsmagazine The Economist retains its unchallenged title of the world’s best weekly news magazine, completely burying such second-raters as Time and Newsweek in the U.S. and Der Spiegel in Germany. Regardless of one's political inclinations (and the magazine does not wear its politics on its sleeve), it is essential reading for any one seeking to be called "informed". At $3.95 an issue, it is a bargain given the extraordinary amount of content and the consistently high caliber of the writing. A typical issue contains over 150 pages. Articles are in small type and there aren’t a lot of glossy pictures and graphics like competition has so there is plenty of reading material.

What makes the magazine so important from the American perspective is its utter lack of the provincialism that drenches the U.S. news media. When one reads “The Economist”, one learns that there is life outside of New York, Washington, Hollywood, and human interest stories. Each issue contains a solid survey of political, economic, financial, and cultural events occurring around the world, written in an erudite, educated prose for people who don’t read “People”. The magazine really is a breath of fresh air.

It opens with a couple of pages of letters from world-wide correspondents. A short section on subjects of current interest follows, perhaps five to eight pages worth. There follows sections on the United States, the Americas, Asia, International, Britain and Europe. Each section will contain anywhere from four to a dozen articles ranging across the gamut.

For example, the “United States” section will usually have articles on presidential and congressional politics, U.S. foreign policy, and national economics. There are often pieces on cultural issues—movies, education, music. Local politics, especially big city, gets its share of attention. This coverage is repeated in the other sections as well, looking at events in a few countries. There is always good coverage of China, Japan, and foreign policy issues.

But, true to its name, “The Economist” also provides absolutely first-rate coverage on economic, business, and financial issues (the “Business” and “Finance and Economics” sections.) The level of discourse is easily the equal of the Wall Street Journal (America’s best newspaper), and the attention to detail sometimes deeper. Not only is there extensive coverage of current issues, but the magazine is famed for its various business surveys on topics such as banking, oil, and high tech. These lengthy batches of articles often approach text book quality. Indeed, when I was an M.B.A. student at Chicago, my professors often distributed articles from the Economist on matters ranging from the capital asset pricing model to its well-known “’Big Mac” pricing survey (which illustrates the concept of purchasing power parity).

The “Books and Arts” section contains more excellent book reviews as well as surveys of cultural events. These articles are uniformly intelligent and, refreshingly, are neither fawning nor cynical. There is usually a page long obituary of a recent decedent. The magazine concludes with several pages of key economic indicators.

As with most other magazines, there is a cover story. Unlike its American competitors, the cover story is usually of substance. No “Ricky Martin” nonsense here. A recent issue focused on the upcoming American presidential debates with over forty pages of issue-by-issue comparison of the two candidates. It is a disgrace to American journalism that the British can provide such top-notch coverage of American politics, while the best our shores can evidently produce are Anna Quindlen and Eleanor Clift.

Another little-noticed benefit is the advertising: there isn’t any. Hardly any, anywise. No half-nude women leering at you while they caress a bottle of scotch. (Well, maybe those ads aren’t so bad.) About the most offensive things you will see are the occasional BS corporate “goodwill” ad and a plethora of “economist wanted in developing country” and MBA executive education blurbs.

The Economist’s politics are mildly Tory. It lacks both the obnoxious conservatism of “The American Spectator “or and the knee-jerk liberalism of “Time”. Perhaps one of the magazine’s most important virtues are that all of its articles are unsigned, so the unidentified author need not try to establish a track record of “progressivism” or whatever for his loyal reading public. Whatever its politics, they are seldom forced down the reader’s throat so one can actually read this magazine without experiencing the occasional impulse to throw a coffee cup through a window (something that virtually every page of the New York Times inspires me to do).

Whatever your politics, worldview, or sexual preference, “The Economist” provides the reader with a thorough, even-handed, and engaging weekly review of world developments and issues. Subscribe to it today.

buffoonery’s magazine and newspaper reviews:

Wall Street Journal
Commentary
The Economist
National Review
The Nation
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Sun-Times
First Things
The American Spectator
The New Republic
Guitar World
Guitar World Acoustic
Guitar One
Guitar Player



Recommended: Yes

Describe the magazine's political views: It is conservative.
Primary Reason for Buying: News/Current Events