View source for The Economist

{{Short description|British news and current affairs journal}}
{{for-multi|the profession|Economist|other uses|The Economist (disambiguation)}}
{{Cite check|date=June 2025|reason=}}
{{use British English|date=April 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name = The Economist
| logo = The Economist Logo.svg
| image = The Economist Cover (Aug 1, 2020).jpg
| caption = Cover of the 1 August 2020 issue
| founded = {{start date and age|df=y|1843|09}}
| founder = [[James Wilson (businessman)|James Wilson]]
| owners = [[The Economist Group]]
| ISSN = 0013-0613
| political_position = <!--This is not an indiscriminate list, only the big, umbrella political camps The Economist belongs to.-->
[[Radical centrism]]<ref>{{Cite news |date = 2 September 2013 |title=Is The Economist left- or right-wing? |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/09/economist-explains-itself-0 |url-status=live |access-date=24 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803173727/https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/09/economist-explains-itself-0 |archive-date=3 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=13 October 2012 |title=True Progressivism |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2012/10/13/true-progressivism |url-status=live |access-date=16 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015063202/http://www.economist.com/node/21564556 |archive-date=15 October 2016}}</ref><br />[[Economic liberalism]]<ref name="Zevin-2019">{{Cite web |last=Zevin |first=Alexander |date=20 December 2019 |title=Liberalism at Large — how The Economist gets it right and spectacularly wrong |url=https://www.ft.com/content/eb87e2f4-ffc9-11e9-a530-16c6c29e70ca |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/eb87e2f4-ffc9-11e9-a530-16c6c29e70ca |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=11 March 2020 |website=[[Financial Times]]}}</ref><ref name="Mishra-2019">{{Cite magazine |last=Mishra |first=Pankaj |title=Liberalism According to The Economist |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/11/liberalism-according-to-the-economist |url-status=live |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717193119/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/11/liberalism-according-to-the-economist |archive-date=17 July 2020 |access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref><br />[[Social liberalism]]<ref name="Zevin-2019" /><ref name="Mishra-2019" />
| headquarters = [[Adelphi, London|The Adelphi]],<br> 1–11 John Adam St,<br> [[City of Westminster|Westminster]],<br>[[London]] WC2N 6HT,<br>United Kingdom
| editor = [[Zanny Minton Beddoes]]
| oclc = 1081684
| website = {{Official URL}}
| circulation = 1.225 million
| circulation_date = September 2025
| circulation_ref = <ref name=teg>{{Cite web |date=30 September 2025 |title=The Economist Group - Results |url=https://www.economistgroup.com/results |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251205080357/https://www.economistgroup.com/results |archive-date=5 December 2025 |access-date=12 February 2026 |publisher=[[The Economist Group]]}}</ref>
| logo_size = 135px
| deputy_editor = [[Tom Standage]]
}}

'''''The Economist''''' is a British news and current affairs journal published in a weekly print magazine format and daily on [[Electronic publishing|digital]] platforms. Widely considered a magazine, it refers to itself as a newspaper,<ref name="Somaiya-2015" /><ref name="Iber-2019" /> and publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. Mostly written and edited in [[London]],<ref name=peters/> it has other editorial offices in the United States and in major cities in continental Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.<ref name="isnewspaper">{{Cite news|date=2 September 2013 |title=''The Economist'' Is a Newspaper, Even Though It Doesn't Look Like One |first=Kara|last=Bloomgarden-Smoke|url=https://observer.com/2013/09/the-economist-is-a-newspaper-even-though-it-doesnt-look-like-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809041749/https://observer.com/2013/09/the-economist-is-a-newspaper-even-though-it-doesnt-look-like-one/ |archive-date=9 August 2020|website=[[The Observer]]}}</ref><ref name=peters/> The publication prominently features [[data journalism]], and has a focus on interpretive analysis over [[News media|original reporting]], to both criticism and acclaim.<!--Article uses British English, e.g. "-ise" over "-ize". See: WP:ISE.-->

Founded in 1843, ''The Economist'' was first circulated by Scottish economist [[James Wilson (businessman)|James Wilson]] to muster support for abolishing the British [[Corn Laws]] (1815–1846), a system of import [[tariff]]s. 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 cartoon]]s, [[Letter to the editor|reader letters]], cover stories, art critique, book reviews, and technology features. The paper is recognisable by its [[fire engine red]] [[Nameplate (publishing)|masthead]] (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 digital magazine, ''[[1843 (magazine)|1843]]'', and a variety of podcasts, films, and books. It is considered a [[newspaper of record]] in the UK.<ref name="FrostWeingarten2017">{{cite book|last1=Frost|first1=Corey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7rGhDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|title=The Broadview Guide to Writing: A Handbook for Students|last2=Weingarten|first2=Karen|last3=Babington|first3=Doug|last4=LePan|first4=Don|last5=Okun|first5=Maureen|date=30 May 2017|publisher=[[Broadview Press]]|isbn=978-1-55481-313-1|edition=6th|pages=27–|access-date=9 March 2020|archive-date=29 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629112957/https://books.google.com/books?id=7rGhDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[The Economist editorial stance|editorial stance of ''The Economist'']] primarily revolves around [[classical liberalism|classical]], [[social liberalism|social]], and most notably [[economic liberalism]]. It has supported [[radical centrism]], favouring policies and governments that maintain [[centrist politics]]. The newspaper typically champions economic liberalism, particularly free markets, free trade, free immigration, deregulation, and globalisation. Its extensive use of [[word play]] and high subscription price has linked the paper with a high-income elite readership, drawing both positive and negative connotations.<ref name=peters>{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jeremy W. |date=8 August 2010 |title=''The Economist'' Tends Its Sophisticate Garden |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/business/media/09economist.html |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614173806/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/business/media/09economist.html |archive-date=14 June 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burnell |first=Ian |date=31 January 2019 |title=Why The Economist swapped its famous elitist marketing for emotional messaging |url=https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2019/01/31/why-the-economist-swapped-its-famous-elitist-marketing-emotional-messaging |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809015245/https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2019/01/31/why-the-economist-swapped-its-famous-elitist-marketing-emotional-messaging |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=11 March 2020 |website=The Drum}}</ref> In line with this, it claims to have an influential readership of prominent business leaders and policy-makers.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gates|first=Bill|url=https://www.gatesnotes.com/Where-Can-I-Get-Unbiased-News|title=Where can I get unbiased news?|date=8 March 2010|website=GatesNotes - the blog of Bill Gates|publisher=2024 The Gates Notes LLC|access-date=3 April 2024}}</ref>

==History==
{{multiple image
| align       = right
| image1      = James Wilson by Sir John Watson-Gordon.jpg
| width1      = 188
| alt1        = 
| caption1    = 
| image2      = The Economist 1843-09-02- Vol 1 Iss 1 (IA sim economist 1843-09-02 1 1).pdf
| width2      = 150
| alt2        = 
| caption2    = 
| footer      = Scottish economist [[James Wilson (businessman)|James Wilson]] founded the newspaper to "take part in a severe contest between intelligence ... and ... ignorance". Its first issue (right) was published on 2 September 1843 as a [[broadsheet]] newspaper before transitioning into a [[Bookbinding#Thermally activated binding|perfect-bound weekly]] paper in 1971; the paper currently uses a [[Bookbinding#Stitched or sewn binding|stapled magazine]] format.
| direction   = 
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}}

''The Economist'' was founded by the British businessman and banker [[James Wilson (businessman)|James Wilson]] in 1843, to advance the repeal of the [[Corn Laws]], a system of import tariffs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schonhardt-Bailey |first=Cheryl |date=January 30, 2007 |title=From the Corn Laws to Your Mailbox |url=https://mitpress.typepad.com/mitpresslog/2007/01/from_corn_laws_.html |website=The MIT Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mitpress.typepad.com/mitpresslog/2007/01/from_corn_laws_.html|title=From the Corn Laws to Your Mailbox |website=The MIT Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612061955/http://mitpress.typepad.com/mitpresslog/2007/01/from_corn_laws_.html |archive-date=12 June 2010 |date=30 January 2007 |access-date=11 June 2010}}</ref> A [[prospectus (finance)|prospectus]] for the newspaper from 5 August 1843 enumerated thirteen areas of coverage that its editors wanted the publication to focus on:<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 August 1843 |title=Prospectus |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1873493 |url-status=live |access-date=27 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212171351/http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1873493 |archive-date=12 February 2007}}</ref>

* Original [[editorial|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.
* [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|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 [[Greater London|Metropolis]], the [[Historic counties of England|Provinces]], 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 [[List of agricultural machinery|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.
* [[British overseas territories|Colonial]] and foreign topics, including trade, produce, political and fiscal changes, and other matters, including [[Investigative journalism|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.
* [[Letter to the editor|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 (American publishing)|imprint]] (US: masthead) as the publication's mission.<ref name="opinion">{{Cite news |title=Opinion: leaders and letters to the Editor |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/opinion/ |url-status=live |access-date=1 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429055238/http://www.economist.com/opinion/ |archive-date=29 April 2011}}</ref> It has long been respected as "one of the most competent and subtle Western periodicals on public affairs".<ref name="Leites">{{Cite journal |last=Leites |first=Nathan |year=1952 |title=The Politburo Through Western Eyes |journal=[[World Politics]] |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=159–185 |doi=10.2307/2009044 |jstor=2009044 |s2cid=153594584}} {{subscription required}}</ref> It was cited by [[Karl Marx]] in his formulation of socialist theory because Marx felt the publication epitomised the interests of the bourgeoisie.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McLellan |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YauuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA242 |title=Karl Marx: His Life and Thought |date=1 December 1973 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-15514-9 |language=en}}</ref> He wrote that "the London ''Economist'', the European organ of the aristocracy of finance, described most strikingly the attitude of this class."<ref>Karl Marx, ''The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte'', VI (1852)</ref> In 1915, revolutionary [[Vladimir Lenin]] referred to ''The Economist'' as a "journal that speaks for British millionaires".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zevin |first=Alex |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cOC2DwAAQBAJ |title=Liberalism at Large: The World According to the Economist |date=12 November 2019 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=978-1-78168-624-9 |location=London |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cOC2DwAAQBAJ&q=journal+that+speaks+for+British+millionaires&pg=PA164 164]}}</ref> Additionally, Lenin stated that ''The Economist'' held a "bourgeois-pacifist" position and supported peace out of fear of [[revolution]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lenin |first=Vladimir |url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1915/may/01c.htm |title=Bourgeois Philanthropists and Revolutionary Social-Democracy |series=Lenin Collected Works |publisher=Progress Publishers |year=1974 |volume=21 |location=Moscow |pages=192–193|access-date=5 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124100238/https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1915/may/01c.htm |archive-date=24 November 2019 |url-status=live |via=Internet Marxists Archive}} First published in ''Sotsial-Demokrat'', No. 41, 1 May 1915.</ref>

In the [[currency]] disputes of the mid-nineteenth century, the journal sided with the Banking School against the [[Currency School]]. It criticised the [[Bank Charter Act 1844]] which restricted the amount of bank notes that the Bank of England could issue on the basis of Currency School policy encouraged by [[Lord Overstone]], that eventually developed into [[monetarism]]. It blamed the 1857 financial crisis in Britain on 'a certain class of ''doctrinaires''' who 'refer every commercial crisis and its disastrous consequences to "excessive issues of bank notes".<ref name="The Economist-2">''The Economist''. 28 November 1857. p. 1313.</ref><ref name="Read-2022">{{Cite book |last=Read |first=Charles |title=Calming the Storms, the Cary Trade, the Banking School and British Financial Crises Since 1825. |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2022 |isbn=9783031119132 |location=Cham, Switzerland |pages=269}}</ref> It identified the causes of the [[financial crisis]] as variations in [[interest rate]]s and a build-up of excess [[financial capital]] leading to unwise [[investment]]s.<ref name="The Economist-2" /><ref name="Read-2022" />

[[File:The Economist 2019 1 o.jpg|thumb|left|A panel of journalists and public policy leaders at ''The Economist''{{'}}s 2019 India Summit]]
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.<ref name="About us" /> In 1971, ''The Economist'' changed its large [[Broadsheet|broadsheet format]] into a smaller [[Bookbinding#Thermally activated binding|magazine-style perfect-bound]] formatting.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Why does The Economist call itself a newspaper? |url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/01/why-does-the-economist-call-itself-a-newspaper |access-date=2024-01-06 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> In 1981 the publication introduced a North American edition after publishing the British edition since 1843; its circulation had increased more than tenfold by 2010.<ref name="peters" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Economist Launches New China Section |url=http://www.asiamediajournal.com/pressrelease.php?id=3277 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201210032/http://www.asiamediajournal.com/pressrelease.php?id=3277 |archive-date=1 February 2012 |website=Asian Media Journal}}</ref>

In 1991, [[James Fallows]] argued in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' that ''The Economist'' used editorial lines that contradicted the news stories they purported to highlight.<ref name="fallows" /> In 1999, [[Andrew Sullivan]] complained in ''[[The New Republic]]'' that it uses "marketing genius"<ref>{{Cite news |title=London Fog |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/politics/london-fog |url-status=live |access-date=2 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904203948/http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/london-fog |archive-date=4 September 2014}}</ref> to make up for deficiencies in original reporting, resulting in "a kind of ''[[Reader's Digest]]''"<ref name="The New Republic-1999">{{Cite magazine |date=14 June 1999 |title=Not so groovy. |magazine=The New Republic |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,3874750,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=27 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411215804/https://www.theguardian.com/media/1999/jun/14/8 |archive-date=11 April 2023}}</ref> for America's corporate elite.<ref name="The New Republic-1999" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Finkel |first=Rebecca |date=July 1999 |title=Nasty barbs fly between New Republic and Economist |url=http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news1999/july99/news4707.html |url-status=dead |magazine=Media Life |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107024913/http://www.medialifemagazine.com:8080/news1999/july99/news4707.html |archive-date=7 November 2015 |access-date=27 April 2008}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' 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".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stern |first=Stefan |date=21 August 2005 |title=Economist thrives on female intuition |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/aug/21/pressandpublishing.business1 |url-status=live |access-date=2 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140919093954/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/aug/21/pressandpublishing.business1 |archive-date=19 September 2014}}</ref>

In 2005, the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' 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.<ref>Entertainment: 50 Best Magazines, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2006.</ref> In 2008, [[Jon Meacham]], former editor of ''Newsweek'' and a self-described "fan", criticised ''The Economist''{{'s}} focus on analysis over original reporting.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Jon Meacham Wants Newsweek to Be More Like Hayes' Esquire |work=The New York Observer |url=http://www.observer.com/node/39374 |url-status=dead |access-date=27 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522125448/http://www.observer.com/node/39374 |archive-date=22 May 2008}}</ref> In 2012, ''The Economist'' was [[2012 ICT Skype controversy|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 (Bangladesh)|International Crimes Tribunal]].<ref name="ICTleaks">{{Cite magazine |date=8 December 2012 |title=Discrepancy in Dhaka |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/12/bangladesh |url-status=live |magazine=The Economist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801193836/http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/12/bangladesh |archive-date=1 August 2017 |access-date=13 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="ICTleaks1">{{Cite web |date=2012-12-09 |title=Economist magazine faces contempt in Bangladesh |url=https://apnews.com/general-news-54451f7e17b2471c99581192476c8fd6 |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> In August 2015, [[Pearson plc|Pearson]] sold its 50% stake in the newspaper to the Italian [[Agnelli family]]'s investment company, [[Exor (company)|Exor]], for £469 million (US$531 million) and the paper re-acquired the remaining shares for £182 million ($206 million).<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 August 2015 |title=Pearson Unloads $731 Million Stake in the Economist |work=HuffPost |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-economist-pearson_55cb31f0e4b0923c12beac28?ir=Business&section=business&kvcommref=mostpopular |url-status=live |access-date=15 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411215810/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-economist-pearson_n_55cb31f0e4b0923c12beac28?ir=Business&section=business&kvcommref=mostpopular |archive-date=11 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="West">{{Cite news |last=West |first=Karl |date=15 August 2015 |title=The Economist becomes a family affair |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/15/economist-becomes-a-family-affair-agnellis |url-status=live |access-date=15 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815153059/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/15/economist-becomes-a-family-affair-agnellis |archive-date=15 August 2015 |quote=Pearson, the education and publishing giant that has held a non-controlling 50% stake since 1928, is selling the holding for £469m. The deal will make Italy's Agnelli family, founders of the Fiat car empire, the largest shareholder ... .}}</ref>

=== Fossil fuel advertising ===
An investigation by ''[[The Intercept]]'', ''[[The Nation]]'' and ''[[DeSmog]]'' found that ''The Economist'' is one of the leading media outlets that publishes advertising for the [[fossil fuel]] industry. Journalists who cover [[climate change]] for ''The Economist'' are concerned that [[conflicts of interest]] with the companies and industries that [[Causes of climate change|caused climate change]] and [[climate change denial|obstructed action]] will reduce the credibility of their reporting on climate change and cause readers to downplay the [[climate crisis]].<ref name="intercept20231205">{{cite news |author=Amy Westervelt & Matthew Green |date=December 5, 2023 |title=Leading News Outlets Are Doing the Fossil Fuel Industry's Greenwashing |url=https://theintercept.com/2023/12/05/fossil-fuel-industry-media-company-advertising/ |access-date=September 1, 2024 |publisher=The Intercept}}</ref>

==Organisation==
''The Economist'' is a member of [[the Economist Group]].

=== Shareholders ===
[[File:Economist building London1.jpg|thumb|[[City of Westminster]]'s Smithson Plaza, formerly known as The Economist Building,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Smithson Plaza |url=https://tishmanspeyer.com/properties/smithson-plaza |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123223827/https://tishmanspeyer.com/properties/smithson-plaza |archive-date=23 November 2020 |access-date=30 September 2020 |website=tishmanspeyer.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Smithson Plaza |url=https://smithson-plaza.com/heritage/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414011826/https://smithson-plaza.com/heritage/ |archive-date=14 April 2021 |access-date=30 September 2020 |website=smithson-plaza.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Smithson Plaza - St James's Street SW1A 1HA |url=https://www.buildington.co.uk/london-sw1/25-st-james-39-s-street/the-economist-plaza/id/3717 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203141632/https://www.buildington.co.uk/london-sw1/25-st-james-39-s-street/the-economist-plaza/id/3717 |archive-date=3 December 2020 |access-date=30 September 2020 |website=buildington.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=DSDHA |url=http://www.dsdha.co.uk/projects/58f8b7d9420d2d0004000001/Smithson-Plaza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028222614/http://www.dsdha.co.uk/projects/58f8b7d9420d2d0004000001/Smithson-Plaza |archive-date=28 October 2020 |access-date=30 September 2020 |website=dsdha.co.uk}}</ref> served as the headquarters of the paper until 2017, on [[St James's Street]].|alt=]] Pearson plc held a 50% shareholding via [[Financial Times|The Financial Times Limited]] until August 2015. At that time, Pearson sold their share in the Economist. The [[Agnelli family]]'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.<ref name="West" /> Aside from the Agnelli family, smaller shareholders in the company include [[Cadbury family|Cadbury]], [[Rothschild family|Rothschild]] (21%), [[Schroders|Schroder]], [[Baron Layton|Layton]] and other family interests as well as a number of staff and former staff shareholders.<ref name="West" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=11 August 2015 |title=Agnellis, Rothschilds close in on Economist |work=POLITICO |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/agnellis-rothschilds-close-in-on-economist-magazine-sale-pearson/ |url-status=live |access-date=1 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201180906/https://www.politico.eu/article/agnellis-rothschilds-close-in-on-economist-magazine-sale-pearson/ |archive-date=1 December 2018}}</ref>  

A [[Trustee|board of trustees]] formally appoints the editor, who cannot be removed without its permission, to protect the Economist's editorial independence. The current trustees are [[Virginia Bottomley]], [[Alison Carnwath]], Tim Clark and [[Gus O'Donnell]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Economist Group - Trustees |url=https://www.economistgroup.com/esg/trustees |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=The Economist Group |language=en}}</ref>

The Economist Newspaper Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of [[The Economist Group]]. Sir [[Evelyn Robert de Rothschild]] was chairman of the company from 1972 to 1989. In March 2026, Canadian businessman [[Stephen J. R. Smith|Stephen J.R. Smith]] bought a 26.9% stake in [[The Economist Group]] formerly held by [[Lynn Forester de Rothschild]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sweney |first=Mark |date=2026-03-17 |title=Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith buys 27% stake in the Economist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/17/stephen-smith-stake-economist-news-magazine |access-date=2026-03-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

=== Staff ===
Although ''The Economist'' has a global emphasis and scope, about two-thirds of the 75 staff journalists are based in the London borough of [[City of Westminster|Westminster]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Stephen Hugh |date=26 February 2006 |title=So what's the secret of 'The Economist'? |work=The Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/so-whats-the-secret-of-the-economist-347699.html |url-status=dead |access-date=27 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405044734/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/so-whats-the-secret-of-the-economist-347699.html |archive-date=5 April 2017}}</ref> However, due to half of all subscribers originating in the United States, ''The Economist'' has core editorial offices and substantial operations in [[New York City]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Chicago]], and [[Washington, D.C.|Washington D.C.]]<ref name="gainsreaders" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Locations of The Economist in the United States |url=https://www.economistgroup.com/contact/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410174321/https://www.economistgroup.com/contact/ |archive-date=10 April 2020 |access-date=10 March 2020 |website=economistgroup.com}}</ref>

=== Editor ===
[[File:Zanny Minton Beddoes World Economic Forum 2013 cropped.jpg|thumb|254x254px|[[Zanny Minton Beddoes]] was appointed editor in 2015, first joining as an [[emerging markets]] correspondent in 1994.]]

The [[editor-in-chief]], commonly known as simply "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 the following:

* [[James Wilson (businessman)|James Wilson]]: 1843–1857
* [[Richard Holt Hutton]]: 1857–1861{{NoteTag|''[[The Concise Dictionary of National Biography]]'' makes him assistant editor 1858–1860.}}
* [[Walter Bagehot]]: 1861–1877{{NoteTag|He was Wilson's son-in-law.}}
* [[Daniel Conner Lathbury]]: 1877–1881{{NoteTag|[[s:The Times/1922/Obituary/Daniel Conner Lathbury|A journalist and biographer]]}} (jointly)
* [[Inglis Palgrave|Robert Harry Inglis Palgrave]]: 1877–1883 (jointly)
* Edward Johnstone: 1883–1907<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=zh:economist150周年（1993） – 经济学人资料库 – ECO中文网 – Powered by Discuz! Archiver |url=http://www.ecocn.org/archiver/?tid-2398.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922170122/http://www.ecocn.org/archiver/?tid-2398.html |archive-date=22 September 2015 |access-date=29 June 2015}}</ref>
* [[Francis Wrigley Hirst]]: 1907–1916
* [[Hartley Withers]]: 1916–1921
* [[Walter Layton, 1st Baron Layton|Sir Walter Layton]]: 1922–1938
* [[Geoffrey Crowther, Baron Crowther|Geoffrey Crowther]]: 1938–1956
* [[Donald Tyerman]]: 1956–1965
* [[Alastair Burnet|Sir Alastair Burnet]]: 1965–1974
* [[Andrew Knight (journalist)|Andrew Knight]]: 1974–1986
* [[Rupert Pennant-Rea]]: 1986–1993
* [[Bill Emmott]]: 1993–2006
* [[John Micklethwait]]: 2006–2014<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sweney |first=Mark |date=9 December 2014 |title=John Micklethwait leaving the Economist to join Bloomberg News |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/09/john-micklethwait-leaving-economist-joining-bloomberg |url-status=live |access-date=13 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305013352/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/09/john-micklethwait-leaving-economist-joining-bloomberg |archive-date=5 March 2017}}</ref>
* [[Zanny Minton Beddoes]]: 2015–present<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zanny Minton Beddoes |url=https://www.weforum.org/people/zanny-minton-beddoes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809034204/https://www.weforum.org/people/zanny-minton-beddoes/ |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=9 April 2020 |website=[[World Economic Forum]] |language=en}}</ref>

Notes:
{{NoteFoot}}

==Tone and voice==
Although 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,<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 September 2011 |title=Style Guide |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction |url-status=dead |access-date=8 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207195439/http://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction |archive-date=7 February 2013}}</ref> as if most articles were written by a single author, which may be perceived to display dry, understated wit, and precise use of language.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Economist – Tone |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=673927 |url-status=live |access-date=27 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107073442/http://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=673927 |archive-date=7 January 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Johnson |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/research/johnson/ |url-status=dead |access-date=27 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061219221031/http://www.economist.com/research/johnson/ |archive-date=19 December 2006}}</ref> ''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 layperson. It usually does not translate short French and German quotes or phrases but describes the business or nature of even well-known entities, writing, for example, "[[Goldman Sachs]], an investment bank".<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 February 2008 |title=A bank by any other name |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2008/02/21/a-bank-by-any-other-name |url-status=live |access-date=27 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827230301/https://www.economist.com/britain/2008/02/21/a-bank-by-any-other-name |archive-date=27 August 2019 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> ''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.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Alexander|first=Richard J.|title=Article Headlines in ''The Economist'': An Analysis of Puns, Allusions and Metaphors|journal=Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik|volume=11|issue=2|pages=159–177|date=1986|jstor=43023400}}</ref>

Widely considered as a magazine<ref name="Somaiya-2015">{{Cite news |last=Somaiya |first=Ravi |date=4 August 2015 |title=Up for Sale, The Economist Is Unlikely to Alter Its Voice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/business/media/a-sale-of-the-economist-is-unlikely-to-change-its-voice.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411065437/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/business/media/a-sale-of-the-economist-is-unlikely-to-change-its-voice.html |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=11 April 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>'', The Economist'' has traditionally and historically persisted in referring to itself as a "[[newspaper]]",<ref name="Iber-2019">{{Cite magazine |last=Iber |first=Patrick |date=17 December 2019 |title=The World the Economist Made |magazine=[[The New Republic]] |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/155962/liberalism-at-large-book-review-the-economist-magazine |url-status=live |access-date=8 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423122440/https://newrepublic.com/article/155962/liberalism-at-large-book-review-the-economist-magazine |archive-date=23 April 2020 |issn=0028-6583}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUFOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA266 |title=The Economist: A Weekly Financial, Commercial, and Real-estate Newspaper |date=1899 |publisher=Economist Publishing Company |language=en}}</ref> rather than a "[[news magazine]]", despite its switch from broadsheet to [[Perfect binding|perfect-binding]] format in 1971. On its website the Economist itself clarifies: "By the time the transformation from newspaper to magazine format had been completed, the habit of referring to ourselves as "this newspaper" had stuck."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-06-19 |title=Frequently asked questions |url=https://www.economist.com/frequently-asked-questions |access-date=2025-06-20 |newspaper=The Economist |language=en}}</ref>

===Editorial anonymity===
''The Economist''{{'}}s articles often take a definite editorial stance and almost never carry a [[byline]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arrese |first=Ángel |date=February 2021 |title="The evolution of Anonymity in The Economist" |journal=Media History |volume=28 |pages=111–124 |doi=10.1080/13688804.2021.1888703 |s2cid=233977282}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Media directory |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/mediadirectory |url-status=live |access-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524223216/http://www.economist.com/mediadirectory |archive-date=24 May 2012}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 November 2008 |title=Why The Economist has no bylines |url=http://andreaskluth.org/2008/11/20/why-the-economist-has-no-bylines/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220115743/http://andreaskluth.org/2008/11/20/why-the-economist-has-no-bylines/ |archive-date=20 December 2008 |access-date=25 May 2012 |website=Andreaskluth.org}}</ref> One anonymous writer of ''The Economist'' observed: "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."<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 September 2013 |title=Why are The Economist's writers anonymous? |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/09/economist-explains-itself-1/ |url-status=live |access-date=25 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927025426/http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/09/economist-explains-itself-1/ |archive-date=27 September 2016}}</ref> According to one academic study, the anonymous ethos of the weekly has contributed to strengthening three areas for ''The Economist'': collective and consistent voice, talent and newsroom management, and brand strength.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arrese |first=Ángel |date=March 2020 |title=""It's Anonymous. It's The Economist". The Journalistic and Business Value of Anonymity" |journal=Journalism Practice |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=471–488 |doi=10.1080/17512786.2020.1735489 |s2cid=216320039}}</ref>

The editors say this is necessary because "collective voice and personality matter more than the identities of individual journalists",<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 November 2010 |title=The Economist – About us |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/help/about-us |url-status=live |access-date=11 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611044028/http://www.economist.com/help/about-us |archive-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> and reflects "a collaborative effort".<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 April 2008 |title=Economist Editor Micklethwait brings his global perspective to the Twin Cities |url=http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/04/29/1659/economist_editor_micklethwait_brings_his_global_perspective_to_the_twin_cities |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705161308/http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/04/29/1659/economist_editor_micklethwait_brings_his_global_perspective_to_the_twin_cities |archive-date=5 July 2008 |access-date=16 September 2008 |publisher=MinnPost.com}}</ref> 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]] criticised the paper's editorial anonymity in 1991, labelling it a means to hide the youth and inexperience of those writing articles.<ref name="fallows">{{Cite news |date=16 October 1991 |title=The Economics of the Colonial Cringe: Pseudonomics and the Sneer on the Face of The Economist |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/1991/10/-quot-the-economics-of-the-colonial-cringe-quot-about-the-economist-magazine-washington-post-1991/7415/ |url-status=live |access-date=27 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526075502/http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/1991/10/-quot-the-economics-of-the-colonial-cringe-quot-about-the-economist-magazine-washington-post-1991/7415 |archive-date=26 May 2010}}</ref> Although individual articles are written anonymously, there is no secrecy over who the writers are, as they are listed on ''The Economist''{{'s}} website, which also provides summaries of their careers and academic qualifications.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Media directory |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://mediadirectory.economist.com/ |url-status=live |access-date=31 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424055628/http://mediadirectory.economist.com/ |archive-date=24 April 2016}}</ref> In 2009, Lewis included multiple ''Economist'' articles in his anthology about the [[2008 financial crisis]], ''[[Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Michael M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXUOASHVf_YC |title=Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity |date=2009 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-06514-5 |language=en}}</ref>

[[John Ralston Saul]] describes ''The Economist'' as a newspaper that "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."<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense |id={{ASIN|0743236602|country=uk}}}}</ref>

==Features==
[[File:A stack of Economist papers.jpg|thumb|A stack of ''Economist'' papers, ordered by publication date, 2020 |276x276px]]
''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 [[survey article|surveys]]) on a given topic.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Special reports |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/printedition/specialreports |url-status=live |access-date=9 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220163843/http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12749771 |archive-date=20 December 2008}}</ref> The five main categories are Countries and Regions, Business, Finance and Economics, Science, and Technology. The newspaper goes to press on Thursdays, between 6&nbsp;p.m. and 7&nbsp;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&nbsp;pm London time on Thursdays.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Katie |date=11 July 2007 |title=Economist launches audio magazine |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/jul/11/pressandpublishing.business1 |url-status=live |access-date=21 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111081641/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/jul/11/pressandpublishing.business1 |archive-date=11 January 2017}}</ref> 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]] 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.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Economist style guide |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/research/StyleGuide/ |url-status=live |access-date=27 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061229165027/http://www.economist.com/research/styleguide/ |archive-date=29 December 2006}}</ref> [[David G. Bradley]], publisher of ''[[The Atlantic]]'', described the formula as "a consistent world view expressed, consistently, in tight and engaging prose".<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Seven Year Ambition |url=http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/magazines/more_on_atlantic_medias_new_superstar_20765.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010200210/http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/magazines/more_on_atlantic_medias_new_superstar_20765.asp |archive-date=10 October 2008 |website=mediabistro.com}}</ref>

===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]], [[United Nations Global Compact]], the Chairman of [[BT Group]], an ex-Director of [[Royal Dutch Shell|Shell]] and the UK [[Institute of Directors]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Compilation: Full text of responses to Economist survey on Corporate Social Responsibility (January–February 2005) |url=http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/542754 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709161955/http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/542754 |archive-date=9 July 2010 |access-date=3 February 2007 |website=Business & Human Rights}}</ref>

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]] 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]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 April 2007 |title=Letters: On Amnesty International and human rights, Iraq, tax breaks 4&nbsp;April 2007 |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8954694 |url-status=live |access-date=9 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206063732/http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8954694 |archive-date=6 December 2007}}</ref> Rebuttals from officials within regimes such as the Singapore government are routinely printed, to comply with local [[right-of-reply]] laws without compromising editorial independence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Francis T. Seow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnZjYJ3TduUC&pg=PA173 |title=The Media Enthralled: Singapore Revisited |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-55587-779-8 |pages=171–175}}</ref>

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 Zanny Minton Beddoes, the first female editor, the salutation was dismissed;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |date=2019-02-27 |title=Local newspaper reinstates 'Sir' to letters page after reader backlash over decision to drop traditional greeting |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/local-newspaper-reinstates-sir-to-letters-page-after-reader-backlash-over-decision-to-drop-traditional-greeting/ |access-date=2026-05-19 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref> letters have since had no salutation.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} Prior to a change in procedure, all responses to online articles were published in "The Inbox".{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Columns ===

The publication runs several opinion columns whose names reflect their topic:

*''Bagehot'' (Britain): named for [[Walter Bagehot]], 19th-century British constitutional expert and the third editor of ''The Economist''.<ref name="Pressman-2009">{{Cite magazine |last=Pressman |first=Matt |date=20 April 2009 |title=Why Time and Newsweek Will Never Be The Economist |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/04/when-will-magazines-stop-trying-to-copy-the-economist |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923174211/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/04/when-will-magazines-stop-trying-to-copy-the-economist |archive-date=23 September 2020 |access-date=11 March 2020 |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref> First published in 1989, since 2022, it has been written by Duncan Robinson, who succeeded [[Adrian Wooldridge|Adrian Woolridge]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 June 2010 |title=Charlemagne moves town |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2010/06/charlemagne_moves_town |url-status=live |access-date=26 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320103918/http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2010/06/charlemagne_moves_town |archive-date=20 March 2014}}</ref> 
*''Banyan'' (Asia): named for the [[banyan]] tree, this column was established in April 2009 and focuses on various issues across the Asian continent and is written by [[Dominic Ziegler]].
*''Bartleby'' (Work and management): named after [[Bartleby|the titular character]] of a [[Herman Melville]] short story, this column was established in May 2018. It was written by [[Philip Coggan]] until August 2021.
*''Buttonwood'' (Finance): named for the [[Platanus occidentalis|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=John O'Sullivan |url=https://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/john-osullivan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419125705/http://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/john-osullivan/ |archive-date=19 April 2020 |access-date=31 March 2020 |website=Economist}}</ref> 
*''Chaguan'' (China): named for Chaguan, the traditional Chinese Tea houses in [[Chengdu]], this column was established on in September 2018.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 September 2018 |title=The Economist's new China column: Chaguan |publisher=The Economist website |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2018/09/13/the-economists-new-china-column-chaguan |url-status=live |access-date=12 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418051334/https://www.economist.com/china/2018/09/13/the-economists-new-china-column-chaguan |archive-date=18 April 2019}}</ref> It was previously written by [[David Rennie (columnist)|David Rennie]], but has been suspended until the Economist has a new resident columnist in Beijing.
*''Charlemagne'' (Europe): named for [[Charlemagne]], the first [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. It is written by Stanley Pignal, the Economist's Brussels bureau chief.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/stanley-pignal/|title=Stanley Pignal|newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> It has previously been written by Jeremy Cliffe<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/Jeremy-Cliffe/|title=People: Jeremy Cliffe|work=Economist Media Directory|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115075703/http://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/Jeremy-Cliffe/|archive-date=15 January 2019|access-date=14 January 2019}}</ref> and earlier it was written by David Rennie (2007–2010) and by [[Anton La Guardia]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 June 2011 |title=Media Directory |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/mediadirectory/anton-la-guardia |url-status=live |access-date=13 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612181045/http://www.economist.com/mediadirectory/anton-la-guardia |archive-date=12 June 2012}}</ref> (2010–2014).
*''Johnson'' (language): named for [[Samuel Johnson]], this column returned to print 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]]. From June 2010 until May 2012, it was written by [[Peter David (journalist)|Peter David]], until his death in a car accident.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 May 2012 |title=Lexington: Peter David |publisher=The Economist website |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2012/05/lexington |url-status=live |access-date=12 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512011630/http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2012/05/lexington |archive-date=12 May 2012}}</ref> The column is currently written by [[James Bennet (journalist)|James Bennet]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 December 2023 |title=1843 Magazine: When the New York Times lost its way |publisher=The Economist website |url=https://www.economist.com/1843/2023/12/14/when-the-new-york-times-lost-its-way |access-date=14 December 2023}}</ref>
*''Schumpeter'' (Business): named for the economist [[Joseph Schumpeter]], this column was established in September 2009 and is written by Patrick Foulis.
*''The Telegram'' (International): named after the [[Long Telegram]] written by [[George Kennan]], this column has a focus on geopolitics. It is written by [[David Rennie (columnist)|David Rennie]] and was established in November 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.economistgroup.com/press-centre/the-economist/to-explain-a-fast-changing-world-the-economist-launches-a-weekly-column-on |title=To explain a fast-changing world, The Economist launches a weekly column on geopolitics, "The Telegram" |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2024-10-31 |website=The Economist Group |access-date=2024-11-20}}</ref>
*''Free Exchange'' (Economics): a general economics column, frequently based on academic research, replaced the column ''Economics Focus'' in January 2012
*''Obituary'' (recent death): since 2003 it has been written by [[Ann Wroe]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fraser |first=Isabelle |date=6 June 2014 |title=An Interview with Ann Wroe, Obituaries Writer for The Economist |url=http://thehairpin.com/2014/06/an-interview-with-ann-wroe-obituaries-writer-for-the-economist |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223130322/http://thehairpin.com/2014/06/an-interview-with-ann-wroe-obituaries-writer-for-the-economist |archive-date=23 December 2014 |access-date=21 December 2014 |website=[[The Hairpin]]}}</ref>

=== ''TQ'' ===
Every three months, ''The Economist'' publishes a [[Technology journalism|technology report]] called ''Technology Quarterly'', or simply, ''TQ'', a special section focusing on recent trends and developments in science and technology.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 June 2013 |title=Technology Quarterly |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/science/tq/ |url-status=live |access-date=9 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217230918/http://www.economist.com/science/tq/ |archive-date=17 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thanopoulos |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpIxAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT195 |title=Global Business and Corporate Governance: Environment, Structure, and Challenges |date=15 April 2014 |publisher=Business Expert Press |isbn=978-1-60649-865-1 |language=en}}</ref> The feature is also known to intertwine "economic matters with a technology".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Economist. Technology Quarterly |url=http://biblioteca.uoc.edu/en/resources/resource/economist-technology-quarterly |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411010339/http://biblioteca.uoc.edu/en/resources/resource/economist-technology-quarterly |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=11 April 2020 |website=biblioteca.uoc.edu}}</ref> The ''TQ'' often carries a theme, such as [[quantum computing]] or [[cloud storage]], and assembles an assortment of articles around the common subject.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 March 2017 |title=The Economist Technology Quarterly: Quantum Technologies and Their Applications |url=https://1qbit.com/news/the-economist-technology-quarterly-quantum/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411010326/https://1qbit.com/news/the-economist-technology-quarterly-quantum/ |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=11 April 2020 |website=1QBit |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cawsey |first1=T. F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MMwBA8p-aIC&pg=PT46 |title=Toolkit for Organizational Change |last2=Deszca |first2=Gene |date=2007 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-1-4129-4106-8 |language=en}}</ref>

===''1843''===
{{main|1843 (magazine)}}

In September 2007, ''The Economist'' launched a sister [[lifestyle magazine]] 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".<ref name="faqs">{{Cite web |title=FAQs |url=https://www.1843magazine.com/content/faqs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324094451/https://www.1843magazine.com/content/faqs |archive-date=24 March 2016 |access-date=11 July 2017 |website=1843 |date=10 August 2015 |publisher=[[The Economist Newspaper Limited]]}}</ref> The magazine focuses on analysing the "insights and predictions for the [[Luxury goods|luxury landscape]]" across the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=An Evening at The Economist & 1843 |url=https://www.thewalpole.co.uk/news/an-evening-at-the-economist-1843/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411010329/https://www.thewalpole.co.uk/news/an-evening-at-the-economist-1843/ |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=11 April 2020 |website=Walpole |language=en-US}}</ref> Approximately ten years later, in March 2016, the newspaper's parent company, [[Economist Group]], rebranded the lifestyle magazine as ''1843'', in honour of the paper's founding year. It has since remained at six issues per year and carries the motto "Stories of An Extraordinary World".<ref name="faqs" /> Author names appear next to their articles in ''1843''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Conti |first=Samantha |date=8 March 2016 |title=1843, The Economist Unveils a Relaunched, Rebranded Lifestyle Title |url=https://wwd.com/business-news/media/1843-the-economist-new-rebranded-magazine-title-10386121/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411010331/https://wwd.com/business-news/media/1843-the-economist-new-rebranded-magazine-title-10386121/ |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=11 April 2020 |website=WWD}}</ref>

''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]]''<nowiki/>'s ''[[WSJ.]]'' and the ''Financial Times''<nowiki/>' ''[[FT Magazine]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blunden |first=Nick |date=November 2015 |title=Welcome to 1843 |url=https://thoughtthatcounts.economist.com/sites/default/files/Introducing1843.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407021832/https://thoughtthatcounts.economist.com/sites/default/files/Introducing1843.pdf |archive-date=7 April 2020 |website=The Economist Group}}</ref> Since its March 2016 relaunch, it has been edited by Rosie Blau, a former correspondent for ''The Economist''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Atkins |first=Olivia |date=13 March 2019 |title=The Economist relaunches its lifestyle magazine, 1843 |work=The Drum |publisher=Carnyx Group Limited |url=https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/03/13/the-economist-relaunches-its-lifestyle-magazine-1843 |url-status=live |access-date=4 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604183433/https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/03/13/the-economist-relaunches-its-lifestyle-magazine-1843 |archive-date=4 June 2019}}</ref>

In May 2020 it was announced that the ''1843 magazine'' would move to a digital-only format.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |date=2020-05-15 |title=Economist Group cuts 90 jobs and stops printing 1843 magazine |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/economist-group-cuts-90-jobs-and-stops-printing-1843-magazine/ |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== ''The World Ahead'' ===
The paper also produces two annual reviews and predictive reports titled ''The World In [Year]'' and ''The World If [Year]'' as part of their ''The World Ahead'' franchise.<ref>{{Cite web |title='The Economist' Releases 'The World In 2020' Issue, Magazine's Circ Expected To Hit 1 Million |url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/343669/the-economist-releases-the-world-in-2020-issue.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411010332/https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/343669/the-economist-releases-the-world-in-2020-issue.html |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=11 April 2020 |website=mediapost.com |language=en}}</ref> 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]] as "''The Economist''<nowiki/>'s annual [150-page] exercise in [[forecasting]]".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gill |first=Indermit |date=10 April 2020 |title=The World in 2020, as forecast by The Economist |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/04/10/the-world-in-2020-as-forecast-by-the-economist/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411010635/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/04/10/the-world-in-2020-as-forecast-by-the-economist/ |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=11 April 2020 |website=Brookings |language=en-US}}</ref> Translated versions of ''The World In [Year]'' are distributed, e.g. by [[Jang Group]] in Pakistan (Urdu)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jang Group |url=http://pakistan.mom-rsf.org/en/owners/companies/detail/company/company/show/jang-group/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607141109/http://pakistan.mom-rsf.org/en/owners/companies/detail/company/company/show/jang-group/ |archive-date=7 June 2020 |access-date=7 June 2020 |website=pakistan.mom-rsf.org}}</ref> and by [[Roularta]] in Flanders (Dutch).<ref>[https://trends.knack.be/dossier/de-wereld-in-2025/ De Wereld in 2025], Trends (Roularta)</ref>

=== Country of the Year ===
In 2013, ''The Economist'' began awarding a 'Country of the Year' in its annual Christmas special editions. Selected by the newspaper, this award recognises the country that was 'most improved' over the preceding year.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Choice
!Notes
|-
|2013
|{{flag|Uruguay}}
|For legalising recreational marijuana and same-sex marriage<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-12-19 |title=The Economist Recognizes How Awesome Weed-Legalizing Uruguay Is |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/economist-uruguay_n_4474745 |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Earth's got talent |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2013/12/18/earths-got-talent |access-date=2024-01-14 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>
|-
|2014
|{{flag|Tunisia}}
|For a peaceful transition of power amidst the [[Arab Winter]]<ref>{{Cite news |title=Hope springs |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2014/12/17/hope-springs |access-date=2024-01-14 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>
|-
|2015
|{{flag|Myanmar}}
|For political and economic liberalisation (the [[2011–2015 Myanmar political reforms]])<ref>{{Cite news |title=Most favoured nation |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/12/16/most-favoured-nation |access-date=2024-01-14 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>
|-
|2016
|{{flag|Colombia}}
|For reaching a peace agreement in the [[Colombian peace process]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Economist Names Colombia 'Country of the Year' |url=https://www.financecolombia.com/economist-names-colombia-country-year/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Finance Colombia |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Our country of the year |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2016/12/24/our-country-of-the-year |access-date=2024-01-14 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>
|-
|2017
|{{flag|France}}
|For supporting "open society" with the election and first calendar year of the [[Presidency of Emmanuel Macron]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-21 |title=France named The Economist's country of the year |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20171221-france-named-economists-country-year |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|2018
|{{flag|Armenia}}
|For opposing "corruption and incompetence" through the [[2018 Armenian Revolution]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-12-19 |title=Armenia Named The Economist's 'Country Of The Year' |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-pashinian-economist-country-year/29663650.html |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|2019
|{{flag|Uzbekistan}}
|For economic and political reforms<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-20 |title=Uzbekistan Must Now Live Up to "Country of the Year" Honor |work=Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/20/uzbekistan-must-now-live-country-year-honor |access-date=2024-01-14 |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|2020
|{{flag|Malawi}}
|For increased democratisation as part of the [[2020 Malawian presidential election]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Malawi Named 'Country of the Year' by The Economist |url=https://apta.biz/2020/12/22/malawi-named-country-of-the-year-by-the-economist/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=APTA |date=22 December 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
|2021
|{{flag|Italy}}
|For economic reforms and effective [[COVID-19]] vaccination program<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vasques |first=Eleonora |date=2021-12-17 |title=Italy named The Economist's country of the year |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/italy-named-the-economists-country-of-the-year/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=www.euractiv.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>
|-
|2022
|{{flag|Ukraine}}
|For resisting the 2022 [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-20 |title=The Economist names Ukraine 'country of the year' |url=https://news.yahoo.com/economist-names-ukraine-country-173918498.html |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
|2023
|{{flag|Greece}}
|For economic reforms and political stability<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-03 |title=Greece hailed again as global economic 'country of the year' |url=https://www.euronews.com/business/2024/01/03/greece-hailed-again-as-global-economic-country-of-the-year |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=euronews |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|2024
|{{Flag|Bangladesh}}
|For [[Non-cooperation movement (2024)|overthrowing]] [[Sheikh Hasina]] and [[Yunus ministry|transitioning]] "towards a more liberal government"<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Economist's country of the year for 2024 |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/12/19/the-economists-country-of-the-year-for-2024 |access-date=2024-12-19 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>
|-
|2025
|{{Flag|Syria}}
|For a stabilising [[Syrian transitional government|post-Assad transition]]<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Economist's country of the year for 2025 |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/12/18/the-economists-country-of-the-year-for-2025 |access-date=2025-12-20 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>
|}

=== Books ===
[[File:The Economist Books.jpg|thumb|278x278px|A series [[Technical communication|technical manuals]] from ''The Economist'', 2020]] 
In addition to publishing its main newspaper, lifestyle magazine, 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 [[Analytic journalism|explanatory journalism]]. Some of these books serve as collections of articles and columns the paper produces.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woe |first=Ann |url=https://www.npr.org/books/titles/138238085/the-economist-book-of-obituaries |title=The Economist Book of Obituaries |date=November 2008 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-57660-326-0 |language=en |access-date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809013200/https://www.npr.org/books/titles/138238085/the-economist-book-of-obituaries |archive-date=9 August 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coggan |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUuKAgAAQBAJ |title=The Economist Guide to Hedge Funds |date=30 June 2011 |publisher=Profile |isbn=978-1-84765-037-5 |language=en}}</ref>

The paper publishes [[book review]]s in every issue, with a large collective review in their year-end (holiday) issue – published as "''The Economist''<nowiki/>'s Books of the Year".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Economist's books of the year |url=https://history.stanford.edu/news/economist%E2%80%99s-books-year |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809040310/https://history.stanford.edu/news/economist%E2%80%99s-books-year |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=22 April 2020 |website=history.stanford.edu}}</ref> Additionally, the paper has its own [[List of style guides|in-house stylebook]] rather than following an industry-wide writing style template.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=Cambell |date=8 January 2006 |title=Observer review: The Economist Syle Guide |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jan/08/referenceandlanguages.features |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809105906/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jan/08/referenceandlanguages.features |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=22 April 2020 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> All ''Economist'' writing, and publications follow ''The Economist Style Guide'', in various editions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chibber |first=Kabir |date=14 December 2014 |title=We compared The Economist's very British style guide to Bloomberg's, and it was quite amusing |url=https://qz.com/312092/we-compared-the-economist-very-british-style-guide-to-bloombergs-and-it-was-quite-amusing/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809053440/https://qz.com/312092/we-compared-the-economist-very-british-style-guide-to-bloombergs-and-it-was-quite-amusing/ |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=22 April 2020 |website=Quartz |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Joshi |first=Yateendra |date=19 March 2014 |title=The Economist Style Guide, 10th edition |url=https://www.editage.com/insights/the-economist-style-guide-10th-edition |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809104013/https://www.editage.com/insights/the-economist-style-guide-10th-edition |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=22 April 2020 |website=Editage Insights |language=en}}</ref>

===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]]. Co-sponsored by [[Royal Dutch/Shell]], the competition included a first prize of US$20,000 and publication in ''The Economist''{{'}}s annual flagship publication, ''The World In''.<ref name="newstraitstimes2000">{{Cite news |date=22 April 2000 |title=What is your vision of the future? |work=New Straits Times |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=20000422&id=01ZIAAAAIBAJ&pg=2003,2039685}}</ref> 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.<ref name="newstraitstimes2000" /> The judging panel included Bill Emmott, [[Esther Dyson]], Sir [[Mark Moody-Stuart]], and [[Matt Ridley]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 May 2010 |title=Getting better all the time |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/culture/2010/05/13/getting-better-all-the-time |url-status=live |access-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225104016/http://www.economist.com/node/16103826 |archive-date=25 February 2018}}</ref>

In the summer of 2019, they launched the Open Future writing competition with an inaugural youth essay-writing prompt about [[Global warming|climate change]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Climate Change Essay Contest offered by The Economist |url=https://sefs.uw.edu/students/student-blog-post/climate-change-essay-contest-offered-by-the-economist/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809043633/https://sefs.uw.edu/students/student-blog-post/climate-change-essay-contest-offered-by-the-economist/ |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=9 April 2020 |website=School of Environmental and Forest Sciences |date=3 July 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> During this competition the paper accepted a submission from an [[Artificial intelligence|artificially-intelligent]] computer writing program.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Piper |first=Kelsey |date=4 October 2019 |title=The Economist's essay contest featured an AI submission. Here's what the judges thought. |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/10/4/20895836/ai-climate-change-economist-essay-contest-gpt2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809041449/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/10/4/20895836/ai-climate-change-economist-essay-contest-gpt2 |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=9 April 2020 |website=Vox |language=en}}</ref>

=== Podcasts ===
Since 2006, ''The Economist'' has produced several [[podcast]] series.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Standage |first=Tom |date=2019-01-23 |title=Why The Economist is launching a daily podcast |url=https://medium.com/severe-contest/why-the-economist-is-launching-a-daily-podcast-e0560317cc29 |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=The Economist Digital |language=en}}</ref> The podcasts currently in production include:<ref name="economist podcasts">{{Cite web |title=Podcasts |url=https://www.economist.com/audio/podcasts/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=economist.com |language=en}}</ref>

* ''The Intelligence'' (general news)
* ''Editor's Picks'' (audio recordings of published articles)
* ''Drum Tower'' (China)
* ''Babbage'' (technology)
* ''Money Talks'' (finance and business)
* ''Checks and Balance'' (American politics)
* ''The Weekend Intelligence'' (long-form reports on a single topic)

Additionally, ''The Economist'' has produced several limited-run podcast series, such as ''The Prince'' (on [[Xi Jinping]]), ''Next Year in Moscow'' (on [[Russian emigration during the Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian emigrants and dissidents following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine]]), ''Boss Class'' (on [[Business administration|business management]]) and ''Scam Inc'', an 8-part series about the growing business and impact of [[scam]]s.<ref name="economist podcasts" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Roush |first=Chris |date=2025-02-06 |title=The Economist rolls out "Scam Inc" podcast |url=https://talkingbiznews.com/media-news/the-economist-rolls-out-scam-inc-podcast/ |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Talking Biz News |language=en-US}}</ref>

In September 2023, ''The Economist'' announced the launch of Economist Podcasts+, a paid subscription service for its podcast offerings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-01 |title=Why The Economist has put its podcasts behind a paywall |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/podcasts/the-economist-podcasts-paywall-subscriptions/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Espresso news app ===
In 2014 ''The Economist'' launched its short-form news app Espresso. The product offers a daily briefing from the editors, published every day of the week except Sunday. The app is available to paid subscribers and as a separate subscription.<ref>{{Cite news |title=What is The Economist Espresso? |url=https://fcxpre.economist.com/s/article/what-is-the-economist-espresso |access-date=2024-09-15 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>

== 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.<ref name="Selby-Boothroyd-2018">{{Cite web |last=Selby-Boothroyd |first=Alex |date=18 October 2018 |title=Data journalism at The Economist gets a home of its own in print |url=https://medium.economist.com/data-journalism-at-the-economist-gets-a-home-of-its-own-in-print-92e194c7f67e |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711151431/https://medium.economist.com/data-journalism-at-the-economist-gets-a-home-of-its-own-in-print-92e194c7f67e |archive-date=11 July 2022 |access-date=9 April 2020 |website=Medium |language=en}}</ref><ref name="DataJournalism.com">{{Cite web |title=AMA with The Economist's data team - Newsletter |url=https://datajournalism.com/read/newsletters/ama-with-the-economists-data-team |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505101201/https://datajournalism.com/read/newsletters/ama-with-the-economists-data-team |archive-date=5 May 2020 |access-date=9 April 2020 |website=DataJournalism.com |language=en}}</ref> The paper first included a graphical model in 1847—a letter featuring an illustration of various coin sizes—and its first [[Epistolary novel|non-epistolary chart]]—a tree map visualising the size of coal fields in America and England—was included in November 1854.<ref name="Selby-Boothroyd-2018" /> This early adoption of data-based articles was estimated to be "a 100 years before [[Dot-com bubble|the field's modern emergence]]" by ''Data Journalism.com.''<ref name="DataJournalism.com" /> Its transition from broadsheet to [[magazine]]-style formatting led to the adoption of coloured graphs, first in fire-engine-red during the 1980s and then in a thematic blue in 2001.<ref name="Selby-Boothroyd-2018" /> ''The'' ''Economist''<nowiki/>'s editors and readers developed a taste for more data-driven stories throughout the 2000s.<ref name="Selby-Boothroyd-2018" /> Starting in the late-2000s, the paper began to publish more and more articles that centred solely on charts, some of which were published online every weekday.<ref name="Selby-Boothroyd-2018" /> These "daily charts" are typically followed by a short, 500-word explanation. In September 2009, ''The Economist'' launched a [[Twitter]] account for their Data Team.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Economist Data Team (@ECONdailycharts) |url=https://twitter.com/ECONdailycharts |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320215024/https://twitter.com/ECONdailycharts |archive-date=20 March 2020 |access-date=9 April 2020 |website=twitter.com |language=en}}</ref>

In 2015, the data-journalism department—a dedicated team of data journalists, visualisers and interactive developers—was created to head up the paper's data journalism efforts.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 May 2018 |title=How The Economist uses its 12-person data journalism team to drive subscriptions |url=https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/economist-uses-12-person-data-journalism-team-drive-subscriptions/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809035139/https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/economist-uses-12-person-data-journalism-team-drive-subscriptions/ |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=9 April 2020 |website=What's New in Publishing |language=en-US}}</ref> The team's output soon included election forecasting models, covering the French presidential elections of 2017 and 2022 and the US presidential and congressional elections in 2020, among others. In late-2023, the data team advertised for a political data scientist to bolster its political forecasting efforts. In order to ensure transparency in the team's data collection and analysis ''The Economist'' maintains a corporate [[GitHub]] account to publicly disclose their models and software wherever possible.<ref name="Economist-2018">{{Cite web |last=Economist |first=The |date=22 October 2018 |title=Turning a page: The Economist's data journalism gets its own place in print |url=https://medium.economist.com/turning-a-page-the-economists-data-journalism-gets-its-own-place-in-print-664c2e5bdfe9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411215758/https://medium.economist.com/turning-a-page-the-economists-data-journalism-gets-its-own-place-in-print-664c2e5bdfe9?gi=5d1a68c88edd |archive-date=11 April 2023 |access-date=9 April 2020 |website=Medium |language=en}}</ref> In October 2018, they introduced a "Graphic Detail" featuring large charts and maps in both their print and digital editions which ran until November 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 October 2018 |title=The Economist's print edition launches a dedicated data journalism page for better visual storytelling |url=https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/the-economist-s-print-edition-launches-a-dedicated-data-journalism-page-for-better-visual-storytelling/s2/a729384/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809051555/https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/the-economist-s-print-edition-launches-a-dedicated-data-journalism-page-for-better-visual-storytelling/s2/a729384/ |archive-date=9 August 2020 |access-date=9 April 2020 |website=journalism.co.uk}}</ref>

=== Indexes ===
Historically, the publication has also maintained a section of [[economic statistics]], 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.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3WVLKKSOcGYC&pg=PA88 |title=Great expectations—the social sciences in Great Britain |publisher=Commission on the Social Sciences |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7658-0849-3 |page=88}}</ref> 

Some of the most well-known [[Index (economics)|data indexes]] published by the Economist include:

* The [[Big Mac Index]]: a measure of the [[Purchasing power parity|purchasing power]] of currencies, first published in 1986, using the price of the hamburger in different countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Krugman |first1=Paul R. |last2=Obstfeld |first2= Maurice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZnk5C2r8qEC&pg=PA396 |title=International Economics |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-321-55398-0 |page=396}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=6–12 September 1986 |title=On the Hamburger Standard |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> This is published twice a year since 2006, annually prior to that.<ref>{{cite web| title= The Economist GitHub | website= [[GitHub]]| url= https://github.com/TheEconomist/big-mac-data}}</ref>
* A [[Democracy Index]]: a measure of the state of democracy in the world, produced by the [[Economist Intelligence Unit]] (EIU).
* The [[Glass Ceiling Index]]: a measure of [[Occupational sexism|female equality in the workplace]].
* The Most Dangerous Cities Index: a measure of major cities [[List of countries by intentional homicide rate|by rates of homicide]].
* Commodity-Price Index: a measure of [[Commodity|commodities]], such as [[gold]] and [[Brent Crude|brent oil]], as well as agricultural items.
''The Economist'' also publishes a variety of rankings seeking to position [[business school]]s and [[Undergraduate education|undergraduate universities]] among each other, respectively. In 2015, they published their first ranking of U.S. universities, focusing on comparable economic advantages. Their data for the rankings is sourced from the [[United States Department of Education|U.S. Department of Education]] and is calculated as a function of median earnings through [[regression analysis]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 October 2015 |title=The Economist "The value of university: Our first-ever college rankings" |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/value-university |url-status=live |access-date=29 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311051641/https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/value-university |archive-date=11 March 2018}}</ref> 

== Opinions and editorial stances ==
{{Main|The Economist editorial stance}}

The editorial stance of ''The Economist'' primarily revolves around [[classical liberalism|classical]], [[Social liberalism|social]], and most notably, [[economic liberalism]]. Since its founding, it has supported [[radical centrism]], favouring policies and governments that maintain [[Centrism|centrist politics]]. ''The Economist'' typically champions [[neoliberalism]], particularly [[free market]]s, [[free trade]], [[free immigration]], [[deregulation]], and [[globalisation]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 December 2010 |title=Globalisation: The redistribution of hope |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2010/12/16/the-redistribution-of-hope |url-status=live |access-date=23 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422201232/http://www.economist.com/node/17732859 |archive-date=22 April 2011}}</ref> When ''The Economist'' was founded, the term ''[[economism]]'' denoted what would today be termed "economic liberalism". The activist and journalist [[George Monbiot]] has described it as neoliberal, albeit that occasionally it is accepting of the propositions of [[Keynesian economics]] where these were deemed more "reasonable".<ref name="Grauniad">{{Cite news |last=George Monbiot |date=11 January 2005 |title=George Monbiot, Punitive – and it works |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jan/11/economy.g8 |url-status=live |access-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018124521/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jan/11/economy.g8 |archive-date=18 October 2017}}</ref> ''The Economist'' favours a [[carbon tax]] to help reduce pollution and emissions and fight [[global warming]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 June 2008 |title=Buttonwood: Let them heat coke |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11543656 |url-status=live |access-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008165633/http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11543656 |archive-date=8 October 2008}}</ref> According to one former editor, Bill Emmott, "''The Economist''{{'}}s philosophy has always been liberal, not conservative".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Emmot |first=Bill |date=8 December 2000 |title=Time for a referendum on the monarchy |work=Comment |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/monarchy/story/0,2763,408484,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=27 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411215823/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/dec/08/monarchy.comment |archive-date=11 April 2023}}</ref> Like other publications, such as ''The Guardian'', ''[[The Observer]]'' and ''[[The Independent]]'', the Economist supports the [[Republicanism in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom becoming a republic]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Katwala |first=Sunder |date=7 February 2012 |title=The monarchy is more secure than ever |work=The New Statesman |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2012/02/monarchy-jubilee-media-public |url-status=live |access-date=14 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914162446/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2012/02/monarchy-jubilee-media-public |archive-date=14 September 2022}}</ref>

[[File:David Hume and Adam Smith statues, Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|Scottish economist [[Adam Smith]] (right) and philosopher [[David Hume]] (left) represent ''The Economist'''s foundational beliefs of ''[[laissez-faire]]'' policies, self-sufficiency, anti-protectionism and [[free trade]].]]
Individual contributors take diverse views. ''The Economist'' favours the support, through [[central bank]]s, 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. [[Karl Marx]] deemed ''The Economist'' the "European organ" of "the aristocracy of finance".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marx |first=Karl |url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18th-brumaire/ch06.htm |title=The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte |year=1852 |access-date=17 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313030711/http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18th-brumaire/ch06.htm |archive-date=13 March 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> At the same time, the magazine has criticised the inefficiency and regressivity of the [[Taxation in the United States|U.S. tax model]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 February 2012 |title=Tax reform in America: A simple bare necessity |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2012/02/04/a-simple-bare-necessity |url-status=live |access-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525100024/http://www.economist.com/node/21545981 |archive-date=25 May 2012}}</ref> 

''The Economist'' has supported reforms addressing social issues such as recognition of [[Same-sex marriage|gay marriages]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=2515389 |title=Let them wed |newspaper=The Economist |date=4 January 1996 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511111130/http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=2515389 |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref> [[Drug liberalization|legalisation of drugs]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.drogasedemocracia.org/Arquivos/the-economist.pdf |title=How to stop the drug wars |newspaper=The Economist |date=7 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602002643/http://www.drogasedemocracia.org/Arquivos/the-economist.pdf |archive-date=2 June 2010}} The publication calls legalisation "the least bad solution".</ref> and seems to support some government regulation on health issues, such as smoking in public,<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 June 2010 |title=Smoking and public health: Breathe easy |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2010/06/10/breathe-easy |url-status=live |access-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221145448/http://www.economist.com/node/16333351 |archive-date=21 February 2012}}</ref> as well as bans on smacking children.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11455006|title=Spare The Rod, Say Some|newspaper=The Economist|date=31 May 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802023730/http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11455006|archive-date=2 August 2008|url-access=registration}}</ref> ''The Economist'' consistently favours guest worker programmes, [[School choice|parental choice of school]], and immigration reform.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=6744217|title=Sense, not Sensenbrenner|newspaper=The Economist|date=30 March 2006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416022312/http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=6744217|archive-date=16 April 2008|url-access=registration}}</ref> It once published an "obituary" of God, a particularly British example perhaps of its often ironic and iconoclastic issue framing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 December 1999 |title=Obituary: God |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/1999/12/23/god |url-status=live |access-date=7 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207135600/https://www.economist.com/obituary/1999/12/23/god |archive-date=7 December 2019}}</ref> ''The Economist'' also has a long record of supporting [[gun control]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 April 2009 |title=Lexington: Reflections on Virginia Tech |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2009/04/08/reflections-on-virginia-tech |url-status=live |access-date=13 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511091608/http://www.economist.com/node/13447986 |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref> In 2021, it was criticized for publishing an "anti-transgender screed".<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 July 2021 |title=Respected News Magazine The Economist Publishes Anti-Trans Screed |newspaper=The Advocate |url=https://www.advocate.com/media/2021/7/29/respected-news-magazine-economist-publishes-anti-trans-screed |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref> In 2019, The Economist received backlash for suggesting that transgender people should be sterilized; it subsequently apologized for this statement.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 May 2021 |title=Editor's history of calling trans people 'frauds' shines light on Economist's transphobic tweet |url=https://www.dailydot.com/irl/helen-joyce-economist-transphobia/ |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 March 2019 |title=The Economist under fire for asking if transgender people should be sterilised |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2019/03/20/economist-transgender-sterilised-japan/ |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 October 2021 |title=Anti-trans rhetoric is rife in the British media. Little is being done to extinguish the flames |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/09/uk/uk-trans-rights-gender-critical-media-intl-gbr-cmd/index.html |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 March 2019 |title=The Economist Apologizes for Tweet Asking Whether Transgender People Should Be 'Sterilized' |url=https://www.thewrap.com/the-economist-apologizes-for-tweet-asking-whether-transgender-people-should-be-sterilized/ |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref>

In recent British general elections, ''The Economist'' has endorsed the center-left [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] (in 2005 and 2024),<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 April 2005 |title=There is no alternative (alas) |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2005/04/28/there-is-no-alternative-alas |access-date=2024-07-06 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Keir Starmer should be Britain's next prime minister |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/06/27/keir-starmer-should-be-britains-next-prime-minister |newspaper=The Economist|date=27 June 2024}}</ref> the right wing [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] (in 2010 and 2015),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/apr/29/the-economist-backs-conservatives|title=The Economist backs the Conservatives|work=The Guardian|date=29 April 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018124627/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/apr/29/the-economist-backs-conservatives|archive-date=18 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="The Economist">{{Cite news |date=2 May 2015 |title=Who should govern Britain? |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21650113-despite-risk-europe-coalition-led-david-cameron-should-have-second-term-who |url-status=live |access-date=11 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506123551/http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21650113-despite-risk-europe-coalition-led-david-cameron-should-have-second-term-who |archive-date=6 May 2015}}</ref> and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] (in 2017 and 2019).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-01 |title=The Economist endorses Liberal Democrats in UK election |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/the-economist-endorses-liberal-democrats-in-uk-election/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Politico |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=5 December 2019 |title=The Economist backs the Liberal Democrats in the 2019 UK general election |url=https://www.economistgroup.com/group-news/the-economist/the-economist-backs-the-liberal-democrats-in-the-2019-uk-general-election |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Economist Group}}</ref> It has supported both [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidates in the United States. 

In 2008, ''The Economist'' commented that [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner]], the Peronist/progressive president of Argentina at the time, was "dashing hopes of change" and "leading her country into economic peril and social conflict".<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 May 2008 |title=Cristina in the land of make believe |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11293743 |url-status=live |access-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706153609/http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11293743 |archive-date=6 July 2008}}</ref> The magazine called for [[impeachment of Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton's impeachment]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 September 1998 |title=Just go |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/1998/09/17/just-go |url-status=live |access-date=27 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827225228/https://www.economist.com/leaders/1998/09/17/just-go |archive-date=27 August 2019 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> as well as for [[Donald Rumsfeld]]'s resignation after the emergence of the [[Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 May 2004 |title=Resign, Rumsfeld |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2004/05/06/resign-rumsfeld |url-status=live |access-date=18 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618124544/https://www.economist.com/leaders/2004/05/06/resign-rumsfeld |archive-date=18 June 2022}}</ref> Although ''The Economist'' initially gave vigorous support to 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 [[Iraq War]], while maintaining in 2007 that pulling out in the short term would be irresponsible.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 March 2007 |title=Mugged by reality |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_RRRTGGP |url-status=live |access-date=9 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015195744/http://economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_RRRTGGP |archive-date=15 October 2007}}</ref> 

''The Economist'' put its stance this way in 2016:

{{blockquote|What, besides free trade and free markets, does ''The Economist'' believe in? "It is to the Radicals that ''The Economist'' still likes to think of itself as belonging. The extreme centre is the paper's historical position". That is as true today as when Crowther [Geoffrey, ''Economist'' editor 1938–1956] said it in 1955. ''The Economist'' considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability. It has backed conservatives such as [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Margaret Thatcher]]. It has supported the Americans in [[Vietnam]]. But it has also endorsed [[Harold Wilson]] and [[Bill Clinton]], and espoused a variety of liberal causes: opposing capital punishment from its earliest days, while favouring penal reform and decolonisation, as well as—more recently—gun control and gay marriage.<ref name="About us">{{Cite news |date=18 November 2010 |title=About us |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/help/about-us#About_The_Economist |url-status=live |access-date=21 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921080832/http://www.economist.com/help/about-us#About_The_Economist |archive-date=21 September 2016}}</ref>}}

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.<ref name="The Economist at 175">{{Cite news |date=13 September 2018 |title=The Economist at 175 |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/essay/2018/09/13/the-economist-at-175 |url-status=live |access-date=17 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916212953/https://www.economist.com/essay/2018/09/13/the-economist-at-175 |archive-date=16 September 2018}}</ref> It 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]], [[open immigration]], a rethink of the [[social contract]] with more emphasis on education, and a revival of [[liberal internationalism]].<ref name="The Economist at 175" />

==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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 August 2011 |title=The Economist launches on Android |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/08/service-announcement |url-status=live |access-date=26 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227035402/https://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/08/service-announcement |archive-date=27 February 2018}}</ref> From July to December 2019, their average global [[Circulation (journal)|print circulation]] was over 909,476.<ref name="pgazette">{{Cite web |date=13 June 2014 |title=Seriously popular: The Economist now claims to reach 5.3m readers a week in print and online |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/seriously-popular-economist-now-claims-reach-53m-readers-week-print-and-online |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211072547/https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/seriously-popular-economist-now-claims-reach-53m-readers-week-print-and-online/ |archive-date=11 December 2019 |access-date=22 June 2015 |publisher=pressgazette.co.uk}}</ref> As of September 2025, combined print and digital circulation was reported at 1.255 million.<ref name=teg/> However, on a weekly average basis, the paper can reach up to 5.1 million readers, across their print and digital runs.<ref name="pgazette" /> Across their social media platforms, it reaches an audience of 35 million, as of 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ponsford |first=Dominic |date=8 March 2016 |title=The Economist boasts 1.5m magazine circulation and 36m social media followers |url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/economist-boasts-15m-magazine-circulation-and-36m-social-media-followers/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324020103/https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/economist-boasts-15m-magazine-circulation-and-36m-social-media-followers/ |archive-date=24 March 2020 |access-date=23 March 2020 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>

Circulation grew steadily in its early years. In 1844, it was 1,800, 3,800 in 1850 and had risen to 4,300 by 1854.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Don Vann |first1=J. |last2=VanArsdel |first2=Rosemary T. |title=Victorian periodicals; a guide to research |date=1978 |publisher=The Modern Language Association of America |location=New York |isbn=0873522575 |page=171 |edition=First}}</ref> 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.<ref name="About us" /> Circulation is audited by the [[Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK)|Audit Bureau of Circulations]] (ABC). From around 30,000 in 1960 it has risen to near 1 million by 2000 and by 2016 to about 1.3&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lucinda Southern |date=17 February 2016 |title=The Economist Plans to Double Circulation Profits in 5 Years |url=http://digiday.com/publishers/economist-aims-double-circulation-profits-5-years/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[Digiday]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711081658/http://digiday.com/publishers/economist-aims-double-circulation-profits-5-years/ |archive-date=11 July 2016 |access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref> Approximately half of all sales (54%) originate in the United States with sales in the United Kingdom making 14% of the total and continental Europe 19%.<ref name="gainsreaders">{{Cite web |date=8 March 2006 |title='Economist' Magazine Wins American Readers |website=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5250996 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505233744/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5250996 |archive-date=5 May 2007 |access-date=27 December 2006 }}</ref> 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". [[Geoffrey Crowther, Baron Crowther|Geoffrey Crowther]], a former editor, wrote: "Never in the history of journalism has so much been read for so long by so few."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moseley |first=Ray |title='Economist' aspires to influence, and many say it does British weekly boasts of limited readership, banks on snob appeal |work=The Chicago Tribune |url-access=subscription |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D3B56996BE43&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |date=September 26, 1993 |url-status=dead |access-date=14 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809032838/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D3B56996BE43&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |archive-date=9 August 2011}}</ref>

==Censorship==
[[File:A page ripped out from The Economist by China's censorship department (cropped).jpg|thumb|232x232px|A copy of ''The Economist'' in [[Liaoning Provincial Museum|Liaoning Provincial Library]]. Page 28 from the 1 June 2019 issue, about the [[1989 Tiananmen Square Protests]], has been removed.]]<!-- The camera location given in the metadata of the image matches the location of the library -->
Sections of ''The Economist'' criticising authoritarian regimes are frequently removed from the paper by the authorities in those countries. On 15 June 2006, [[Iran]] 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]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran bans ''The Economist'' over map |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150191582529&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |date=Jun 14, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223062030/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150191582529&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-date=23 December 2011 |access-date=31 January 2007 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]]}}</ref> On 29 May 2025, Reuters reported that Vietnam had banned the May 24 issue featuring the president [[Tô Lâm]] that described him as "an ambitious leader who emerged "from the security state" and who "must turn himself into a reformer" to adjust the country's economic model and make it richer".<ref>{{Cite news |title=Hanoi bans The Economist's printed issue with Vietnam's top leader on cover, say distributor sources |date=May 29, 2025|url=https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/hanoi-bans-economists-printed-issue-with-vietnams-top-leader-cover-say-2025-05-29/ |access-date=2025-11-29 |work=Reuters |language=en-US}}</ref>

In a separate incident, the government of [[Zimbabwe]] 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]] party. The [[decapitation]] claim was retracted,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guardian and RFI correspondent risks two years in jail |url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=2574 |date=11 June 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404211952/http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=2574 |archive-date=4 April 2009 |access-date=2 April 2014 |website=[[Reporters Without Borders]]}}</ref> and allegedly fabricated by the woman's husband. The correspondent was later acquitted, only to receive a [[deportation]] order. On 19 August 2013, ''The Economist'' disclosed that the [[Missouri Department of Corrections]] 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".<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 August 2013 |title=The Economist in prison: About that missing issue |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2013/08/economist-prison |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027204022/http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2013/08/economist-prison |archive-date=27 October 2013}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of business newspapers]]
* [[List of newspapers in the United Kingdom]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Arrese, Angel (1995), ''[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326415042_La_identidad_de_The_Economist La identidad de The Economist]''. Pamplona: Eunsa. {{ISBN|978-84-313-1373-9}}.
* Edwards, Ruth Dudley (1993), ''The Pursuit of Reason: The Economist 1843–1993'', London: Hamish Hamilton, {{ISBN|978-0-241-12939-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tungate |first=Mark |title=Media Monoliths |publisher=Kogan Page Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7494-4108-1 |pages=194–206 |chapter=''The Economist''}}

== External links ==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|The Economist.ogg|date=12 July 2006}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{HathiTrust Catalog}}

{{Portal bar|Journalism|Business|United Kingdom}}
{{Rothschilds}}
{{The Economist Group}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Weekly newspapers published in the United Kingdom]]
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